


Letters to a Young Spider

by lavenderprincess



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: AAAAAAAAAAA, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bi Peter Parker, Canon Divergence - Avengers: Endgame (Movie), F/M, Fix-It, Howard Stark's A+ Parenting, Human Disaster Matt Murdock, Including Beat Death, Jewish Peter Parker, MATT MURDOCK IS A SNARKY LAWYER, Maria Stark's A+ Parenting, Peter Parker? More like Peter Snarker., Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Does What He Wants, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Tony Stark? Tony Snark it is, angst with a possible happy ending, snark everywhere
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-22
Updated: 2020-09-10
Packaged: 2020-10-26 03:40:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 25,347
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20735636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lavenderprincess/pseuds/lavenderprincess
Summary: Letters, each one of them smelling like oil and scented with sandalwood, a feeling of sadness captured in them. Peter Parker doesn't know how he'll go on. But he knows that he has to.Or basically, Peter Parker gets a letter from a posthumous Tony Stark for every major occasion of his life...





	1. The Funeral

**Chapter I: The Funeral**

  
  


The fall seemed to go by with a haze among it, almost like there was no way Peter was in control of his own body. The universe seemed to agree, the bleak October sky of Tony’s funeral a grey, his eyes full of tears. He watched as Tony’s wife and daughter had to say goodbye to someone that clearly loved them more than words could say. He watched as his new world and the people in it struggled to say goodbye to the person who originated the world itself. 

He never realized how much of an effect he truly had on his life until he was gone. He cared about him like a father figure, but he had no idea how he had truly gotten close to him in the two years he had known him. It was almost like the universe robbed them of time, like he should’ve just had more. Two years with the kind of love and admiration he showed Tony Stark? Two years, and nothing more. It was almost like the universe wanted to kill off anyone he’d ever consider a father. Maybe it’ll eventually transpire into everyone he’s ever cared about. Peter figures it’s his curse to bear, that he’s screwed beyond repair, Aunt May’s next if his life keeps being ruined. He doesn’t think about permanence, as nothing in his life has ever been stable, or permanent.

He looked into the eyes of another boy, probably older than him. “Tony Stark broke into my garage, what’s your story?” He had a bit of a southern drawl when he realized what he was actually saying 

“Well… he kind of…. I'm kind of.. we just… he was..” He couldn’t even get the words out, his eyes looking downcast, his eyes filling to the brim with tears.

“Just take a minute, no pressure.” The southern drawl was comforting in a way, familiar in a sense. 

He took a breath, regaining his composure. “You know how to keep a secret, right?”

“I kept the secret that Tony Stark was alive and in my garage for a while, so I consider myself qualified to keep a secret.” 

“Ok… “ Peter was trying to get his name, but it just led to a long drawn out “k” sound.

“It’s Harley, Harley Keener.” 

“Ok, Harley. I’m Spider-Man.” 

Harley’s eyes grew into saucers. “Wait, so you’re the kid Mr. Stark was yelling at me to do research on to take to Germany? You’re that Spider-Man?”

Peter’s eyes narrowed. “I guess I am. You helped introduce me into the guy that helped make who I am today. I didn’t even know who you are. Mr. Stark didn’t talk about you that much…”    
  


“Well, he kinda didn’t have to. I pulled all the tabs on you.” Harley looked around, whispering into his ear. “Only, Tony was the smart one in figuring it out.” He then started talking normally. “If it makes you feel better, it wasn’t necessarily in a creepy way. I’m a big Spider-Man fan, honestly. You’re pretty darn great.” 

“Yeah. Thanks. But, does this kinda make us connected in a way?” 

“Through him, yeah. I guess I forgot it for so long, but.. I’m not the only one he’s probably known. Not the only one he’s connected to.” 

“Yeah. We’re connected now.”    
  


“Well, Peter. I’m gonna go. You know who I am.” Harley grabbed his belongings, giving Peter a cheeky salute as he goes off. 

_ Alone again.  _ Peter mused, his eyes looking toward the water of where Tony’s heart floated. By the time of burial, Tony’s body was marred beyond repair, and rather than having everyone see him like that, they just buried the arc reactor. The arc reactor that started it all, and the arc reactor that ended it all. He felt a tap on his shoulder, a strawberry blonde looking into his face. Pepper Potts, the widow.

“Hey, can you come with me?” Her voice was soft, full of pain, and it was pretty obvious that she had been crying. Peter had no idea why she asked for his presence, especially when it felt like she deserved time to herself. 

“I can do that, Mrs. Potts.”    
  


“It’s Pepper.” She led him into the doors of the cabin where she and Tony lived for five years. “I know we haven’t talked much, I should honestly change that at this point.” She paused, a sad smile coming across her face, her eyes were glossy, almost like glass. Maybe that’s what she felt like, like she was broken glass at that moment, unable to repair herself. “ I-if Tony saw something in you to sacrifice everything for you to come home, then I really should know you. He saw you as one of his own, and I guess I should see you as one of mine, too.”    
  
Peter’s heart broke after he heard that statement.. He was the reason why Morgan was going to grow up without a dad? He was the reason Pepper was robbed of a happily ever after? It was all his fault? “I-I was the reason? P-Pepper I’m so sorry.” 

“I see what’s going on in your head. Tony used to do the same thing, as much as I loved him, the blame for his weapons wasn’t going away. The blame for Sokovia, Civil War, the Snap, you wasn’t going away. He blamed himself for losing you.. He probably blames himself for leaving you..” 

Peter stood still, not exactly knowing what to say, what to think, what to do. His hands fiddled around each other, his heart was pulsating in his chest. He felt stuck, stuck in the guilt. Luckily, Pepper was observant about this, smiling at him. “I think Steve is with Morgan. You’ve never met Morgan, have you?” 

“No, I wasn’t even aware she existed till the funeral. I’m happy he had a kid, though. He talked to me about it when I’d come over after school. How much he wanted to have a kid and fix what happened with his dad.”   
  


“Honestly, he had been doing that for a long time, and he didn’t even realize it. It started with Harley, you met, right?” 

“Yeah. Tall, cowboy dude who tends to know everything?”

“Cowboy dude?” Pepper cracked a genuine smile. He wasn’t trying to joke around even, it’s just, he emanated cowboy energy. 

“He sounded Southern, you can’t blame me.”    
  
“Mmhmm. He was Tony’s first. Did Harley already tell you about how Tony was in his garage when he was supposed to have been dead? I wish that could’ve happened this time..but he spent so long fighting, and he would’ve continued to do it even if he lived. He needed to rest.” 

“Pepper, if there’s anything you need help with, I’m here.”

“Well, I was hoping you’d actually meet your little sister for the past few minutes of you blaming yourself. I think Steve left anyway, so it’d just be us and her.” 

Peter nodded his head. It felt weird for Pepper to acknowledge her as one of the family, but it felt right in a way. He followed her to another room where he saw a little girl with brown hair and brown eyes the size of saucers. She looked around 5 or so, but then again he was a bad guesser on these things. 

“Morguna! This is Peter. Your older brother.”

Peter crouched down onto his knees and anticipated the five-year-old to come closer to him, and she did, just very slowly. “Hi, Morgan. Your mom’s told me so much about you.”

“Did you know my daddy?” she said in a tiny voice, tears still in her eyes. She was pretty smart already, but she was Tony’s kid, of course she’d know what death was like. 

“I knew your dad so well. He was like my dad. He practically picked me up from school everyday…” He paused, thinking about the specific memory of when he made the Stark internship official. “I knew your dad. I knew he loved you so much… I knew he only left because of me.”

“My daddy said he loved me three thousand.”

“I can see why.” Peter said, and he meant it. He had only interacted with this kid for around 10 minutes and he, he felt something. He felt like he needed to protect her, as she was, she was Tony’s kid. She was his legacy. But then again, maybe he was, too.

“He talked about you.”

That stopped Peter in his tracks. “He did.”

“He said he was gonna get my older brother back. But then I lost my dad.”

“I’m so sorry. Morgan, I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay!” She perked up at that, her sad face turning into more of a happy one. “I’ve got a big brother! Two of them! And cheeseburgers!”

“Yeah! You wanna know what’s super cool?”

“What?”

“One of your big brothers is Spider-Man!” 

Morgan laughed, her face lighting up at the mention of Spider-Man. “Spider-Man was my second favorite. Until I saw my mom.”

“That’s honestly, pretty fair.” Peter said, holding back a chuckle. Third wasn’t bad. He chatted with her for a while, she was such a good kid it was kind of impossible not to fall in love with her. 

He felt a tap on his shoulder. Pepper was back, an urgent look in her eye. “I’ve got to get her to Happy.” she mouths, as she picks up Morgan, to return a couple minutes later. 

“Tony… also left something for you.” She said, walking into the room, almost hesitant. 

“He-he did?” 

“Happy’s at your service now, his technology to make new suits. He loved you a lot.” 

“I’m seeing that now.” 

“He also left you… a letter? Pretty weird coming from him, but I think he wanted this to stay… timeless as possible. He told me to ‘give this to Peter if I die, because I never want to go out like my dad did’.” 

“Ok..” He paused, looking down at his hands. Pepper went to go grab it, the room being silent for a few more minutes. She then carefully slid him the letter.

“Apparently these have code words in them for whenever the next one is.”

“There’s more than this one?” 

“There’s one for ‘Every damn occasion as long as Peter Benjamin Parker walks the earth’ and ‘If he has a problem with it, he can fight me when he dies.’”

He looked up to the sky, seeming as if he was trying to sense Tony’s presence. “Mister Stark, I don’t want to fight you wherever you are.”

Pepper laughed, but then pointed back to the letter in his hand. “I think he’d want you to read it.. since he worked so hard on these.”

“When did he—?”

“He was planning these as soon as he met you. He had a feeling he’d get attached and then he’d end up dead. Trust me, he used to cry about it a lot. He had nightmares about you when you were gone, it was.. it was hell.” 

He sighed. “Ok. So, these are all added onto over time, I’m assuming.”

“Bingo. Now go read these when you feel better.” 

“Thanks Pepper. Tell Morgan I’m here if she needs me.” 

“Always. You’re always welcome, too.” 

It took him a while to actually be able to truly come to terms with him being able to read Tony’s letter. It was right before the school’s trip to Europe when he finally opened it. 

_ Don’t tell Morgan, but I love you more than 3000, not because you came first, but because I’m giving up everything, including my life, to get you back.  _

_ Peter Benjamin Parker, Underoos, Kiddo _

_ You’re either reading this because I’m dead and I caused myself to die, or Pepper murdered me in my sleep. But I’m assuming it’s because I’m dead.  _

_ From what short time I had with you, it’s probably too short, knowing how the universe hates both of us. I’m stopping the self-hating dialogue for a second, but _

_ I just want you to know that: _

_ None of this is your fault. Knowing me, you were probably a reason, wanting to die to make the world a better place for you. But none of this is your fault. There are things we don’t understand, but this isn’t one of them. I love you.  _

_ Guess what? I actually am ready for that hug.  _

_ If only you were here.  _

_ I’m writing this as Thanos snapped away half of the population, fucking great, right? Pepper’s pregnant, which is something I never thought would happen, but what do you know, I’m gonna have another kid.  _

_ This is really all over the place, but hey. When have I ever been the one to do things properly. This is the letter that I’m writing to you that you’re gonna read after I die.  _

_ I’m going to impart some words of wisdom on you, despite you having been through this before: _

  * _Don’t do drugs or have alcohol at least 3 years after you think you’re over this_
  * Make sure none of your friends are terrorists or are dealing under the table
  * If you ever want to start up your own company, dodge old men in general. 
  * Be whoever you want to be
  * Don’t be me, be you. 

_ Knowing me, my last words were probably shit in terms of any relevance or anything but, I’m trying to impart something on you. _

_ My dear old dad, Howard Stark, as much as everyone loves to fucking romanticize him, was an asshole. He barely had time for me, and when he was here he basically worked me from the time I was 7. Also, he was definitely abusive and alcoholic and complained behind the scenes, but you know.  _

_ I hope I was better for you. I hope every mistake, every sacrifice, everything I did was worth it. I hope this is better.  _

_ I definitely realized after your Homecoming disaster I needed to be there for you more. So I genuinely hope I was enough for you. I tried to get you from school once a week or stop by whenever you were fighting someone, because Pete.  _

_ I’m proud of you.  _

_ I’ve always been.  _

_ You’re amazing, why wouldn’t I be?  _

_ Just a reminder: Don’t do anything I would do. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do. Do something you would do. _

_ Tony _

He was confused at first, didn’t Pepper say there was a code? There probably was, he concluded, he was just too lazy to find it right now. His mind, for once, was on other things. But when he read that letter, memories of everything they used to do together, memories of Tony coming incognito to every event he had to go to, memories of Happy being annoyed at the fact that there was basically a Tony Stark Junior along with the other Tony Stark, all those memories swirled back to him, all those memories awoke something in him he never thought they would. 

His eyes filled with tears. “It should’ve been me.. I don’t.. I don’t.. It should’ve..” He was quietly mumbling to himself, his body scrunching up into a small ball in the door of his room, close to the hallway. He sat there for a while, frozen in grief, frozen in guilt, frozen. 

And he sat there for a while, he was frozen. Frozen in place, frozen in time, frozen in guilt. 

Eventually, he went back to the letter, turning it onto the back. It was a promise, but there was also a bunch of numbers underneath it, of course, Tony would put his hints in the untraceable language he and Peter had invented for the suits going forward. The numbers and the letters fed themselves into the Underoos system, waiting for something to call back to him. He kept typing. He then suddenly realized this was a new beginning, a new era for him, one without Tony, and one by himself, but.. He knew he could do it. He knew that this awaits him.  _ Operation I.R.O.N.D.A.D. _ He thought, as he typed out a new document, planning aways as he went. 

  
  
  



	2. Chapter 2: Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another major occasion? Another letter. Another Clue. Another insight.

**Chapter 2: Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic**

  
  


Peter Parker wasn’t meant to have a normal life. He knew that way before any of this happened, but he especially knew that after Europe. He had managed to fight off Mysterio, who decided giving him unnecessary, unneeded trauma, and also the Tower Bridge being torn apart didn’t help matters either. Thanks, Beck.

It’s pretty needless to say that Peter Parker had been through hell in the past few weeks. But there were some upsides too, he finally learned his worth. He beat Mysterio in the end. He also managed to get a girlfriend and kiss her, imagine that. He was also supposed to get ready for a date with that girlfriend, but he found himself musing in his room. 

There was a knock on the door, his Aunt May calling for him. “Hey, Pete! These letters are for you! I don’t know who sends letters anymore, but there’s two!” 

“Thanks Aunt May, I’ll get them later.” 

“No problem! I gotta go work that extra shift later. Happy might come over to visit later if that’s okay!”

“That’s fine, Aunt May! I might not be here anyway, I’ve got a date with MJ!”

“You just rhymed!” She taunted, her face probably scrunched up. 

“I know, but you get the point!” He laughed, opening the door and enveloping his aunt into a hug, but then his face growing into one of panic. He was having one of these moments. Ever since Mysterio… happened, it’s left Peter with these episodes of him panicking over what was real and what wasn’t, and Aunt May, Ned, and even MJ have had to help him through it, more than once. 

“Shh…. Peter. Peter. I’m real. I’m real. And if Beck was still alive, I’d kill him myself. Nobody messes with you and gets away with it.”

“Technically he got away wi-“

“Shh.. Just let me enjoy this before I gotta go to work for a long time.” 

“Fine, Aunt May.” She ruffled his hair, kissing his forehead, and then letting him go with a soft kiss on his cheek. “Have a good date. I can’t believe I have to miss your first date.”   
  
“But it’s fine, Aunt May! I swear! I’ll be ok.” 

“Ok, but I expect to know how it went!” 

Peter loved his aunt, he really did, but sometimes he needed time alone to decompress over things, especially since Aunt May found out he was Spider-Man. She was pissed at first, but then, she warmed up to it, obviously. But it added a new layer of protectiveness and pressure he wasn’t sure he wanted, honestly. 

Spider-Man had gone from wanting to be like Tony, to the biggest responsibility in the world, and it all laid on his shoulders. And he was, what? A teenager.

He seemed to audibly relax as the door was closed, mentally preparing himself for this date. Why was he so nervous? She already knew his biggest secret and helped with the villain takedown this go round, but he was still so panicky. Maybe he should get a therapist, other than Happy, of course, when he has the money. He literally had to sell his prized Star Wars collectibles to go to Europe in the first place, so he was kind of complacent in his guilt, which is absolute shit.

He had a while before he had to leave his apartment, so he decided to go back over to the letters Aunt May said were for him. 

He suddenly remembered the code in the letters that Tony had sent him. He had his first kiss. But why were there two? And how did they get there? 

He had a feeling Happy maybe knew, but even if he was dating his aunt, he didn’t want to ask. He kept touching the paper, feeling its creases. This is real, right?

To his wildest dreams, it was. And it was nice that it was because he had missed this. He missed Tony, he missed his presence, even though he wanted to live outside of it. 

_ Pete,  _

_ The kid keeps trying to steal this paper and draw unicorns all over it. If you see any drawings, those are from Morgan.  _

_ I miss you, I guess that’s what happens when you let yourself get attached to someone and love them, you know. _

_ Which awkwardly spirals into the topic of this letter: _

_ You got this because you had your first kiss. _

  * _I hope it was actually pretty nice. I had mine when I was, like, 14 and about to go to MIT. _
  * My first kiss with Pepper was when we were both drunk as a joke. My secret? I thought she was beautiful from the moment I saw her. I’m a dumbass with feelings though, and if you tell her any of this post mortem shit I'm sending you, I’m definitely haunting you in the afterlife. 

_ Kisses are awkward, love is awkward. As much as I wish I could say mine was a movie, it was not. Mainly because Ty was drunk and so was I, so we both just kinda went for it. If you look up Tiberius and Tony, shut off the computer.  _

_ I wish I was still around for this. To give you advice and see you be better than I was, because Lord knows I was a disaster for a long time. Alcoholism and drug addictions are no joke. I had to beat its ass before it beat mine. Pep, as much as I like to joke about her being awful, she helped me through a lot of it. Because Pep is one of my closest friends, if not the closest.  _

_ I wish hers had been my first, if I’m being honest. I wish I could take away the playboy past and just give it to her. Because I love her, genuinely. But I hope you find someone that makes you feel this way.  _

_ As much as I hate to say it, these past few years have been some of the happiest for our relationship. We’ve had a kid, quieted our life down a lot. You know me, though. I never stopped being the mechanic who’s always working on something, but this time I was working on being a husband and a father for once.  _

_ Especially as much as everyone conflates my public persona into my private persona, I do care, in my weird fucked up way. I wish I showed that to you more instead of quipping around and getting angry when you did something wrong. I have a lot of mistakes with you, but know none of that is your fault. None of what happens with you knowing me and being my… kind of son figure has to do with you. I chose to mentor you, these are my consequences. And I have to find a way to live with this shit.  _

_ I can’t believe I’m about to go die for the sake of the universe though, that seems kind of fun, but fucked up in a way. In a way, I leave you all happier. You’re less fucked up without me in your life, because I’m volatile and all of that shit. Sike, I wish you could talk to me now. Really mellowed out as a person. _

_ And besides, I could be your Obi-Wan to your Anaki— bad analogy. How about the Luke to your Rey? I know you like Star Wars a lot, kid, just trying to throw you a bone. But you know, to me, I feel like I was destined to die.  _

And with that, Peter had to pause. They were Luke and Rey. Rey who had gone off exploring, trying to learn who she was and who she would be, and Luke, the hardened teacher, who died all too soon. They weren’t Obi-Wan and Anakin, they were something much more tragic. They were lost to the stars, lost to the force that connected them. Peter knew, Peter knew, Peter knew this was his fault. Plus, he knew Mr. Stark wasn’t that into Star Wars, but he did know that he did like Peter, and he knew that Peter loved Star Wars. So, he probably watched the first two movies of the new trilogy, was reminded of Peter, and maybe his heart broke. 

He then realized he needed to keep reading. 

_ At some point, I have to realize I made the decision years ago to die in the end. I made a promise to this guy named Yinsen and yeah. I feel like I finally did him proud. Because I have you, I have Harley, and I have Morgan. And to me, that doesn’t feel like I’m wasting my life at all. I stopped selling weapons, years ago. I almost died, years ago, (multiple times, I may add) but I made a shit ton of mistakes.  _

_ Those mistakes have tried to bite you, to bite me, but they’ve made me better. They’ve made me good enough for you.  _

_ I hope whoever took your Parker kiss virginity was worth it. If you have a father figure that sacrifices his life to the universe, the least you can do is find someone worthy of your time. I know you talked about a girl when you were around, so, I hope you did something with her when I got back, but I’ll know what happens in the afterlife won’t I? At least, I hope there is one. Thor mentioned some shit about Hel, I’ll have to ask him about it.  _

_ But anyway, you better have kissed someone totally worth your time. And totally worth you. Never settle for less kid, half of my problems are because I settled for less.  _

_ I love you more than 3000, and do what you would do, _

  * _Tony _

Peter took a breath, and instead of this letter being full of grief, he actually ended up chuckling at some parts. Tony really did care about him, and Peter, despite his probable PTSD, felt kind of empowered in that. Beck had really messed him up with the “If you were good enough, maybe Tony would’ve still been alive.” mess, and it definitely made him feel inferior. But it seems like Mister Stark had thought the world of him. But this Tony Stark writing the letters to him was a different person than the Mister Stark he knew. He was vulnerable, he was self-deprecating, and Peter had the feeling that this was the Tony Stark that Tony didn’t like to show. This was him, in a sense. All of him, with his nerdy references and his awful, awful timing. 

He looked at the second letter, wondering exactly what it was for, but at the same time, remembering the software. But he didn’t feel like doing it now, especially since he’s on a timetable, and he’s already earned it. Plus, it wouldn’t make sense. He gently opened the second letter, the scent of lavender and sandalwood coming into view. 

_ Hey Pete,  _

_ Doing something different this go around! Pep and I are writing this one, together. Mainly because you probably got this because you’re in your first relationship. Whoever you end up dating, I’m giving them the shovel talk beyond the grave. I don’t care. If they hurt you, I will haunt them from the afterlife.  _

_ In this realm of relationships, I feel as if I’m qualified to give you advice as to how this will go, what will go down, and how the future could be. I hope you don’t end up dying when you’re the happiest, not like me. I wish I could savor every moment with you, and somehow get you out of the Snap and with me and Pep. I wish you could meet Morgan, I wish I was better.  _

_ Pepper Virginia Stark-Potts kind of saved my life. Which is weird, because I met her while shitfaced and very, very close to overdosing on cocaine. I was a fucking maniac, mainly because of what happened with my dad, which will be saved in another letter. _

_ We met at a friends’ party. Pepper, while not necessarily being a billionaire, wasn’t bad off, either. Her family was fairly close to my mother, but that’s totally off of the point. We met at Tiberius’s fucking party when I was a lot older. Before Ty and I… had relationship trouble. But, the moment I saw Pepper, my intoxicated gut could still tell she was going to be in my life for a long time.  _

_ Then came the constant coming over, as we actually clicked at that party. It seemed like even though she met me, she knew there was more than what I usually portrayed. She was patient, but she wasn’t a doormat, when she was done with my shit, she walked out. _

_ She graduated with a degree in art history, and you’re thinking “how is she the CEO now with a degree in art history?” Well, I hired her as my assistant with the degree, but she went back and ended up trying to get a degree in business to kind of supplement things and make it look better for the board. Off-topic, again.  _

_ I’d been in love for Pepper for years before we actually got together. If you tell her any of that shit, I’ll know, somehow. But, I loved her from when we awkwardly would talk during shifts, from when she’d try to tell me the difference between expressionism and cubism and how I was supposed to care, but I pretended I didn’t. It wasn’t that much of a surprise. that through every up and down, she was the one I ended up marrying.  _

_ My advice to you? Find someone you want to talk to: for everything, that you can’t keep a secret from, that throughout everything, you can’t run from. You need someone to ground you and to keep you human, because being a superhero is a fucking hard job, and that shit is awful. You need someone to comfort you through it, look at me, talking about how much I need someone, my therapist would be proud. But Pete, you need someone. And shit, i’ll probably give you my therapists’ info because I’m pretty sure you’re scarred enough as is. With me dying on top of that, it just probably made it worse.  _

_ But seriously, tether yourself. I’m hiding these papers and saving it for Pepper to write on, just so Morgan won’t write about, so…  _

_ I love you more than 3000,  _

_ Don’t do anything I would do,  _

_ Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do, _

_ Do what you would do. _

  * _Tony_

Peter then took out the other sheets of paper, with Pepper’s fancy cursive handwriting on them as opposed to Tony’s barely readable print. The smell of peppermint emanated from her letter,  _ appropriate. _ He thought, and then he continued his reading. 

_ This is Pepper, ignore Tony’s adorable angry parent syndrome. Tony said I was supposed to write in here, but I found myself at a loss for words for a bit. But then again, I’m writing this after he died, and as we finally kind of started to get to know each other during the funeral. Sorry about that, it’s just, you were Tony’s and... I didn’t know how to really bond with you. But I’m trying now. _

_ Tony and I first met out of college by a mutual friend, and now that I think about it, I’m really glad I went to that party that night. Tony back then was an asshole, don’t get me wrong. He also had his issues, but he was better as you got to know him. He then hired me as his assistant at his company, but we had no idea it was going to spiral like this.  _

_ Tony already told you about our entire love story in the first letter, so I’ll spare you. I’m getting to know you, and I can definitely say that you’re sweet, and you’re honestly one of the most caring people I’ve met in a while. You were great for Tony when you knew him, and.. you’re great for MJ now. _

_ From what you describe her, she seems a lot like Tony in the way she presents herself. She hides things, am I correct?  _

_ Also I’m just assuming this is MJ, as you know, you talk about her constantly. I know there’s so much more I need to know about you, and I definitely hope Morgan and I can meet her. Seriously, bring her around. You need to come over more often, I swear.  _

_ Some tips on dealing with someone who isn’t as open and someone who’s damaged.  _

  * _Be yourself. Tony needed my blunt honesty half of the time, and I know I needed his genius, his impulsiveness, and spontaneity. He was smart, and sarcastic, and witty. He really was every bit of the genius he marketed himself as. And he was so incredible. Peter, be incredible for her. I know it’s awkward, and things can definitely get rough as life tends to throw curve balls at you without you even knowing, but you are definitely so resilient. _
  * Be willing to change. True love is about both parties changing to be better. Don’t force yourself into any direction you’re uncomfortable with. I had to leave Tony a few times because I felt like I was forced. It’s perfectly fine to take a break. We were on a break when you came into our life, actually. You were Spider-Man and I was doing business ventures and other ways to distract myself from the hurt. I missed Tony, but he needed to step up and meet me halfway. Which brings me to my third number.
  * Never settle. If you settle for anything less than what you know you’re worth, you’re bound to be disappointed. If I settled for Tony when he wasn’t prioritizing me in his life, we wouldn’t nearly be as happy. We also probably would’ve never had Morgan, and he probably would’ve chc phonon m thlosed his heart out even more once he realized I wasn’t reciprocating. Never settle. Always try to compromise in any venture. 
  * Communication. It is so important. If you ever want to really make it last, you have to communicate. Since I was talking about compromise, you need to compromise with any girlfriend/boyfriend/whatever, about what you both want out of the relationship, how you can meet it, and what you need to do for each other.
  * Consistency. What Tony learned in our relationship is that he needed to be consistent with me. You can’t just start out giving flowers and then forgetting someone exists. You need consistency. You need to keep the passion, you need to keep the love going between the two of you. If there’s anything I’ve learned, it’s definitely this one. Top of the list for me. 

_ Use all of these things in any relationship, whether it’s romantic or not. It makes you better. The more Tony learned relationships, especially with me and Rhodey, the more he flourished. Don’t be afraid to let her into all of you. Tell her about Spider-Man, whatever, just let her into all of you. All of the deepest layers of you. _

_ Don’t be a stranger, come over more!  _

_ Pepper  _

_ Ps. Morgan said she loves you 3000 _

Peter smiled at the three letters in front of him. So, Pepper was how he got them. He knew Aunt May and Pepper were close so her telling her everything would make sense.

He then realized he had touched her life, too. She could not have written those letters if she didn’t care about him, but apparently he was worthy of her grace and forgiveness, and to be honest, it just made him more guilt-ridden. He was the reason why Tony died, yet she cared for him like a son. 

_ Just my Parker luck, more people caring about me.  _

But he then realized that maybe the care was good. Maybe he needed someone in his life. Maybe he needed someone to help figure out what was going on. Maybe he needed someone to help give him a clue… 

A clue. He then turned over each of the letters, each having different symbols and lines of code. He knew he was going to have to decrypt this later, despite every instinct of his telling him to go on his date with MJ. 

His brain screamed at the thought going into his head, the need to know every last bit of knowledge left upon him. So, he grabbed the papers, entered them on his run-down laptop, which kept crashing, because life sure loves giving Peter Parker growing anxiety, and entered the codes into the system.

There was nothing there. He saved it all nonetheless, knowing he'd have to consult Strange and Share to actually be able to get down to the bottom of this. He's not sure how successful this will be, but he knows he has to do this. Operation I.R.O.N.D.A.D had to be successful, because he didn't know what he was going to do if it wasn't.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter is still in progress and has been for a while, but being a student is busy, and I'm trying so so so so so hard to get it out.  
I kind of want to establish what project I.R.O.N.D.A.D could be in the next chapter, but we also get a snarky snarky boi next chapter, so it's going to be a science fiction legal thriller that Is going to be a mess, but also a good time. Like, it's going to be a long one. Guarantee it. I've been planning this out for the longest and it's quickly becoming my favorite in terms of character and all.


	3. Chapter 3: People of the Jury, I'm Curious, Bear With Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter Parker ends up in a rough place after Mysterio reveals his identity...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the longest thing ever, I'm sorry it took me so long, but I took extra time to make sure it was out on Christmas!

**Chapter 3: People of the Jury, I’m Curious, Bear With Me**

Peter Parker could not believe his luck. He was on a date with his girlfriend, then, his identity was revealed, and if it couldn’t get any worse? It did. He was officially framed for murder, and was considered a terrorist.

Peter knew he wasn’t the greatest person in the world, he hid things from people he loved, he often snuck behind authority, but he was not a terrorist. Quentin Beck just wanted to ruin his life from beyond the grave, and Peter Parker had to take the consequences because that was what Parkers always did. 

His aunt and uncle took him in after his parents were killed in a plane crash, if anything, rolling with the punches had been the Parker family’s motto. But Peter wasn’t sure of how he would get himself out of the situation, after all, the Daily Bugle was calling him a “teenage psychopath.” Fat chance, the only psychopath he could find was J. Jonah Jameson and his strange vendetta towards him, but he couldn’t say that in this kind of situation. 

He was detained and arrested later than he had expected, he was at Pepper and Tony’s lake house for a solid thirty minutes before the police stormed the house. Pepper cried out, knowing this situation was a dangerous one for all of them, but also urging him to keep silent. 

“You don’t have a warrant.” Peter retorted, his eyes looking across towards Pepper, a small smirk coming across her face.

“Hot pursuit.” The officer replied, his voice cool and making Peter slightly on the edge. He put handcuffs around Peter’s wrists, but without the knowledge that Peter could break out of them.  _ Running _ he figures,  _ would only cause me more trouble.  _ He let himself be taken to a jail cell, knowing well enough that he isn’t meant to be there. 

He was in there for a couple of hours, but for the most part, prison wasn’t that bad. It was annoying and a bitch, but better than being dead honestly. They had him change into the orange uniform, and god he hated how this was how Spider-Man was going to be remembered. His inmate wasn’t in the cell at the time, which left Parker in a cell, alone, with no hope for innocence.

“Would you like to speak to an attorney?” An officer says as he steps into his jail cell, and he looks earnest, sweet even. Peter doesn’t think he likes Spider-Man, but he thinks maybe it’s because he’s a kid. His voice is booming, full of maybe, understanding?   
  


“Bold of you to think that I can afford a lawyer.” Peter glanced away from the officer, looking at his chains and remembering when life was so much simpler, when he could just sell his Star Wars collection and buy a necklace to impress a girl with.   
  


“There’s lawyers for that.” The officer continued, his voice growing more and more sympathetic. Peter felt more and more encouraged to push him away. He didn’t need people caring about him right now. Not when he’s going to be imprisoned for the rest of his life. 

“I’m on trial for murder, officer sir. Don’t you think that I’d be screwed if I depended on those types of lawyers?”

He really wanted to be away from everyone right now, the smell of the room becoming overwhelming, the talking to from the older adults pounding on his brain. He just wanted to accept his fate, because he thought he deserved it. He wasn’t good enough to save Tony. He wasn’t good enough to see the truth about Beck. Peter Parker truly didn’t think that he deserved anything, ever. 

“Are you asking me to do my job or be honest?”   
  
“Honesty. Don’t you think that it’s best to know what I’m going into?”   
  


“Look kid, I’m not supposed to talk about these things. It’s just a job that I’m supposed to do. But, I know what it’s like. I have a brother.. Wrong side of the tracks, used to get arrested a lot, and I have a son who reminds me of you. He looks up to you. I may not have the best opinion on Spider-Man because you interfere with our jobs, but my son thinks the world of you.” 

Peter stopped dead in his tracks. “And what does he think now?”   
  


“He thinks Mysterio is wrong somehow.” 

“Your son’s pretty smart, then.”    
  


“The smartest I know. And I trust him. I don’t think you’re guilty of this.”   
  


“What’s his name?” Peter inquired, finally looking into the officer’s brown eyes. He seemed like he was in his mid-forties, darker brown skin looking back at him, his hair neatly cut in what seemed to be a police officer’s buzz cut, sunglasses appropriately on his neck. Jefferson is on his nametag. He looks vaguely familiar, but nothing other than that. 

“Miles. And he’s the best thing I’ve ever encountered in my life. So smart. So gifted. I just want him to.. use that somehow."

“Tell Miles that Spider-Man’s counting on him.” Peter said softly, eyeing a figure emerging from the door with another officer. “I believe I’ve got visitors to attend to.” He said in a posh voice, obviously making fun of the visitors along the way. 

With that, Jefferson exited the cell, and in came a man with an eye-patch, and a man in sunglasses, and a green.. Woman? Great, Nick Fury was on his case, which means that he owes him one in the future. 

“Parker! What did I tell you about getting in trouble with the law?” Fury had barged in, planting bugs in the cell, probably due to the sensitive nature of this case. This Fury seemed different, more pissed off, maybe? More active? Oh well.

“... You didn’t say anything about getting in trouble with the law.” Peter rolled his eyes, sighing dramatically. He didn’t have time for this and he just wanted them to leave. “Besides, Fury, I think I’m going to manage my life in prison just fine. Or better yet, they’ll kill me for all the lives I’ve supposedly taken.” 

“Can you shut up for a second? I’m trying to tell you something.”

Peter did so, his eyebrow raising not unlike how Tony used to raise his back in the day. 

Fury looked back at Peter with a fond look before speaking. “Look, I found legal counsel. Murdock and Walters owed me one, and turns out, since you’re considered a terrorist, they’re trying you here. I don’t have much to say as I don’t know shit about laws, other than breaking them and fighting the government while being a part of it.”

“Cool. So, can I talk to the cool green lady and talk to the sunglasses guy now?”

“They’re supposed to defend you, Spider-Kid. Of course you’re going to need to talk to them.”

The man with the coiffed brown hair and sunglasses stepped forward. “Matt Murdock. Of Nelson, Murdock, and Page.”

“Wait. You’re the guy behind that Supreme Court case a few years back about superhero rights, right?”

“One and the same. Besides, it’s not a hard job to fight for rights if the person you’re fighting for is innocent.”

“And you think that I’m innocent? Why?”

“Because I knew Tony Stark. I was his personal lawyer, kid.”

“... Y- You knew him?” 

“And he would never shut up about how pure of heart you were or whatever. On the Pure Virgin Mary, he swore, even. And I take that very seriously.”

The towering green giantess walked out behind Matt, her face looking similar. “Jennifer Walters. You’re probably wondering why I’m green. Gamma radiation.”

“Like Bruce Banner?” Peter smiled, thinking of the adventures he could go on with two Hulk-people. Wait, are they called Hulk-People?

“Yeah. Your good pal Brucie is actually my cousin. Funny how we ended up this way, huh?”

“I believe you’re supposed to exonerate Parker, not have a whole Q and A session.” Fury said, never being one to waste time. 

"Right. You didn’t say anything incriminating at the time of the arrest, right?” Matt inquired, his eyes looking somehow soft underneath the sunglasses he wore. 

“Incriminating?” Peter crosses his arms. “More like I screamed that I didn’t do it and I was literally put into a cell. Because they hate me. I was just trying to go out with my girlfriend, man.” 

“Ok… that isn’t too incriminating. Now, Peter? Is there any evidence we can find? Murdock and I aren’t your usual lawyers, and given Fury’s status, I’m sure we can… find some circumstantial evidence.”

Peter started rambling off quicker than what the two lawyers and Fury could understand, and it scared all of them. The usually happy-go-lucky kid was paralyzed in his fear, having a moment of where he couldn’t think about this rationally as he was in trouble for doing the right thing. Nobody could even make out half of what he was saying. 

“Parker. Slow down. I may be a giant green woman, and Matt may be the best goddamn attorney I’ve met, but even we need a good case.”

Peter took a breath, his eyes focusing back on the two attorneys, and his heartbeat thumping in his ear. “My side of the story, right?”

“That’s what we’re fighting for.”

“Here goes. I was going on a class trip with my,, well, class.” He stopped, nervously laughing, and he took a deeper breath. “Ok, so Tony gave me EDITH. And Fury introduces me to Beck who we believed to be from the multiverse. Beck was super chill and awesome from the start, he really was trying to look out for me, and… he helped fill a void. A void I’m beginning to accept will just remain empty.” 

He didn’t realize what he said until he let the last words out of his mouth, he was trying to let go. Let go of Tony and their all too short time together, and knowing.. feeling. He was at a stump with the I.R.O.N.D.A.D project, and he knew he probably should stop trying at this point. There was no saving him. He was going to end up staying dead and cryogenically frozen and there was nothing he could do about it. He thought back to the memories, the feeling of Tony’s hugs, the several moments that it felt were just between them. The after school lab sessions, the jobs. He was letting it go. He was letting himself go. 

“Peter, anything else?” Matt said, Jennifer looking more and more concerned as the speech went on.

“Oh, right. So I didn’t want EDITH. I didn’t want the responsibility that came with EDITH, so I gave it to Beck. And yeah? Fuck my life, huh. And you know what? I tried so hard to make sure all this shit was handled and I didn’t have to deal with it, because I was… I was a kid. I was a kid who just wanted to get with the girl he liked. I’m still a kid who just wants to have a life, but… no. I’m getting off track, aren’t I?” He paused, recentering himself once more. “MJ, Michelle, my girlfriend, the best girl in the world. She figured out that Beck was a fake with me and Ned. He was a Stark Industries employee who got mad over Tony wanting to name it BARF, and claimed that he stole his idea. No offense to Beck or whatever, but he’s done nothing but credit me for my ideas. He worked on B.A.R.F with a team, and while it’s a shitty acronym, it gets the job done. Tony had been nothing but loving and caring toward me, so if he’s honestly had a problem with someone it’s probably for good reason. There’s a reason why he kept a lot of people out of his life.” 

“Ok. Then what actually happened in London?” Matt asked, Jennifer taking notes. 

“Sure, yeah. Of course. Sorry for swearing so much, I’m just.. frustrated.”

“Parker.” Fury interjected, his one eye looking sympathetic. “We all lose our cool sometimes. It’s better than having a Nazi organization under your nose.” 

“Ok. So, what happened was, I confronted Beck, and he basically had all these.. holograms. He kept tricking me. Frankly, I still have paranoia sometimes. If it’s real, if it’s not. If I’m just in captivity and this being a messed up reality. The drones were hooked up to EDITH, which Beck had and ordered attacks with. And then I got EDITH back. And he made it look like I killed him. I’m just your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, I’d never kill a fly. I haven’t killed a fly. I never want to kill anyone, unless it’s in insane circumstances.” 

“Fury.” Matt said, his face looking cold as stone. “You think it’s possible to get that evidence legally.”

“This is a federal case, we’d have to subpoena the evidence, anyway.” 

“Walters.” Matt called, looking into her solemn eyes as he took off his sunglasses, taking out a red mask. “You up for a little mission?”

“If it includes getting every little bit of evidence on this case, on it.”

“Is that even legal?” Peter interrupted, his eyes the size of saucers.

“I’m Daredevil and she’s She-Hulk and we’re defending you on behalf of Iron Man and Nick Fury. We’ll make it legal.”

“The Sokovia Accords?” Peter couldn’t control how much of a smart mouth he had, but he genuinely was beginning to care less and less about it. 

“You mean the accords that basically became defunct once they realized that aliens can come from the sky and wipe out half of all life in the universe?” 

“Touché.” 

With that, everyone left, ready to start planning the case. Today was going to be a busy day, these were going to be busy days, but he had people behind him. 

A little while later, while Peter was napping, an enraged Pepper Potts and Morgan Stark entered the building, followed by a distressed May Parker and Happy Hogan. He was beginning to prepare himself for the parental lecture when he felt a hand on his forehead. He looked up into her eyes, red from crying.

“MJ!” He exclaimed, his eyes visibly becoming bigger and a ghost of a smile appearing on his face. “Hey.” 

“You ran off.”

“You could’ve been in danger, MJ. I didn’t want to hurt you. You know I care about you.” He sat up, and she lowered herself down, kissing his cheek. 

“Peter. You know I’m always on your side. Not just because you’re cute.”

“I’m here too, you know.” A very annoyed Ned Leeds stood next to MJ, rolling his eyes. 

“You’re not my girlfriend.” Peter automatically retorted, sneaking a kiss onto MJ’s forehead. 

“Sorry I ended up here.” He whispered to her, looking into her eyes with all the love in the world. 

“Aww, that’s so cute. You’ve got visitors.” Another voice emerges, a stately Virginia Potts looking ready to sue the entire prison system and all the dirty fuckers behind it.

“Hey, Pepper.” Peter smiled, hugging her tightly once she walked up to him. “I’m sorry I got arrested at your house.”

“Not the smartest decision.” Pepper remarked, running a hand through his hair. “You’re just like him.” 

“That’s what Happy said.” 

“Listen to Happy more. There’s a reason why Tony trusted him so much.”

“You should always trust me. And your aunt.” Happy said, his eyes narrowing in almost a bossy voice before immediately dissolving into laughter and pity for him. He wasn’t aware Happy could be this.. parental. He kept asking him questions about his day, and what specifically was he doing to pass the time, and also telling him of the good things that were happening around them, just to give Peter some hope. 

Peter felt so overwhelmed. He took a breath. 

“I already had one Mother Hen in my life and now I’ve got all the female Avengers and Happy and Aunt May. I had no idea.”

“Pete, you’re a disaster. I’ve known you longer than anyone here and I knew that.” Aunt May came, kissing Peter’s head and his cheek next, careful of MJ cuddling her nephew and Morgan on Peter’s lap.

Peter whispered in Morgan’s ear, her face immediately soothing after being told that things were going to be ok from her big brother. 

MJ in her unbiased opinion thought the entire scene was adorable, but she’ll never admit it. He’s got a way with her. She then whispered in his ear. “Ned found some footage.”

“Golden Trio strikes again?”

“Always, Boy Who Lived.”

“Back at you, Granger.” 

Morgan piped up. “Peter, are you really gonna be ok?”

“Morgan. I’ll find a way to come to your weekly tea parties no matter what happens.”

Pepper laughed. “I hope it doesn’t come to that. We need you in our family, Peter.” She slipped him an envelope. Well, he wasn’t in the place of where he could really read the letter and have privacy to continue to perfect Tony’s code or theory or whatever it was supposed to be at this point. He had tried every software, including the personal suite and when he thought he was going somewhere he wasn’t. Maybe it was an enigma, that Tony was just fucking with him beyond the grave. 

Ned looked back at Peter. “You’re gonna get out of this. If I can hack Tony Stark’s tech, and you lift a building while it falls on you, you can go beat Beck’s ass. You’re my best friend, I’ve known you for forever. And I’ve got you. Always. I gotta go because my mom is going to kill me if I don’t come home, and she can’t know I’m with you, so bye..”

“Love you, R2.”

“You too, 3PO.” 

Peter had started combing MJ’s hair with his fingers, everyone else besides MJ and Morgan talking amongst themselves, leaving those three with room for conversation. 

“Peter, who’s the letter from?” 

“Mister Stark. Sending me on a post-mortem treasure hunt as I’m in literal prison.” 

“Post-mortem treasure hunt sounds like his specialty. But I know you. And I know me. We can do anything together.” She smiled, holding his hand. He had to hold everything in to not kiss her at that exact moment. He really did appreciate her and everything she did for him, her intelligence and character outshining everyone’s in the best way. She was so…raw. And the fact that she returned his feelings… it was something Peter considered himself lucky to have. 

Peter always knew that his luck was not the best anyway, but he knew that if the universe gave her to him, it was a sign. 

“MJ. You are my Pepper Potts.” 

“And we’re gonna kick ass and take names. Always.” 

“MJ, it’s always nice to see you again.” Pepper smiled. “The entire family adores you. Including me. We really have to talk when Peter isn’t in a crisis or anything, because there’s a lot I want to talk to you about.” 

“Yeah. Of course. Just when my spider isn’t in prison.”

“He calls you his Pepper to his Tony. Which is funny because I was about to offer you a job, but also because I believe that you guys will take over the world.” 

Peter was preoccupied with playing with Morgan, even going as far to start braiding her hair, smiling at her. 

“Yeah. You should see what goes on inside of his head. He’s amazing. I hope he knows I think that.”

“With the way he looks at you? He knows. But MJ, be good to him. You’re going to be together for a while.”

“...I mean, I don’t think I will feel this way with anyone else, Mrs. Potts.” She said, leaning into his touch. 

“That’s nice." She said, her eyes immediately getting glassy. "Cherish what you have with him. He's a hero. You'll never really know when he's ok. And it's tough. You might lose him later..." She got a call from her phone. “I have to go. Morgan, let’s go.” 

Peter picked Morgan off of his lap, and set her on the ground properly so she could go with Pepper. “I’ll see you at the trial, Mrs. Potts.” He hugged Morgan before letting her go with her mother. "I love you, Morguna.." He said, tickling her nose.

"Before then. You’re family. And please, call me Pepper.”

“I love all of you guys. Thanks so much.” Everyone had already begun to settle out and leave, May whispering a “you’ll get through this, I believe in you.” 

MJ was the only one who stayed in the cell, still cuddling him. “Thank god, I was wondering when they were about to leave.” She slid onto his lap where Morgan had once been.

“MJ, don’t you have to go home?”

“Yeah ... but things aren’t the best. I don’t really want to talk about it, but it’s insane.” She looked into his eyes, stroking his hair. “You’re more important to me anyway. I don’t have to walk out of the house because there’s fighting with you.” 

He kissed MJ chastely at first, her lips tasting just as good as they had been the first time. “Can you get off my lap now?”

“How come?”

“I gotta read this letter, MJ.” 

“Ok.” 

He then opened the envelope, the lavender and sandalwood bringing him gentle relief in this prison. 

_ Dear Peter,  _

_ You’re reading this because you either revealed your identity or it got revealed. If the second thing happened, I’m really sorry kid. Your identity is something that you should be able to control and if some jackass (knowing me it’s probably someone from my past because they love to come back to bite the people I love) can’t see that, then they deserve the seventh layer of hell.  _

_ Who you are is something that will change over life, but you have the ability to control your life. Who the public sees you as, isn’t as easy. This is probably a bunch of bullshit that isn’t helpful. I didn't try to hide my identity because I knew they would figure it out anyway. I’m Tony Fucking Stark and they watch my every move. It’s what growing up in the limelight does to you. _

_ You probably know my famous parents, right? I think I told you how Civil War went. But, I was raised by my butler and his wife. Ana and Jarvis. That’s why my first real AI was named… yeah. Ana was the mother Maria couldn’t be. I loved Howard and Maria, but Ana was the one who was always there. When I was upset, she had the freshly baked batch of cookies to cheer me up. She taught me things seen as girly at the time, but she was amazing. I learned what I could from her, including piano, ballet, and how to sew.  _

_ Edwin Jarvis was a man I’d consider my father more than Howard ever was. This is seeming to be really off topic, but without them I wouldn’t have a semblance of private life. They threw secret parties when I achieved something and supported my decisions that were good.  _

_ I remember the one day I was tinkering around in my workshop creating a super souped up computer. I hid it from Howard, but Jarvis and Ana were proud. The computer had the capabilities to calculate Pi to the 92,899,190th digit. along with several other capabilities that were often overlooked. _

_ Let’s just say that computer’s still more advanced than your average Apple device. But no, Howard wanted weapons. Then Obadiah wanted weapons. And I became so unhappy with myself and what I was seen as that I became an addict, searching for shit that I couldn’t find.  _

_ Now let me get back to this sense of identity. I didn’t truly find myself until I had people that allowed me to grow and to be something better than I was. Rhodey got me clean. Rhodey got me better. Pepper helped in that department, but mainly helped in self-reflection and thought. Happy helped in the best way: He was there at every moment. When I was throwing up, when I was healthy, he was there. _

_ Pete, your identity isn’t gonna fucking change because the world knows you’re Spider-Man. You can’t give up on yourself like that, kid. I love you more than words can say, but you can’t ever give up on yourself. You’re a badass. You have to anchor yourself with people you feel comfortable with. You have to keep yourself with a good group of people who ground you, who are there when things go off the rails, but there when you can celebrate and when you can prosper.  _

_ Pete, your friends care so much about you and you better not alienate them at all during all of this or so help me, I will send Pepper to scream at you. You mean so much to me. Don’t ruin yourself. Don’t be like me.  _

_ But also, your idea of self and identity and how it is revealed all comes back to how you think about yourself. If I haven’t given you my therapist, please ask Pepper for it. She knows the work they’ve done for me. But, what you think about yourself is important, it makes your identity. You have to show everyone who you are. I know you’re used to hiding, but you’re out now. Now show people how amazing you are. _

_ This letter is too short. Just a tip: the messages in the letter are not for you to tackle alone. You need a team, just like I needed a team, Kid.  _

_ Now it’s the end. _

_ Raise hell, _

  * _Tony _

Peter flipped the letter onto its backside, MJ immediately scribbling something down and trying to bounce off ideas with him. He was so grateful for her, she made the trials worth it. If he could just be with MJ and Aunt May once this was over, he was happy.

“Hey MJ. I think you should go home. It’s been a while.”

“Ok. But don’t think I’m not coming back because I am.” She kissed his cheek, gathering her backpack and exited the cell.

Peter’s eyes began to drift shut, his breathing becoming lighter as he waits for tomorrow to arrive.

— 

He was awoken with a “thud” on the wall, and he looked around the cell to find Jefferson. 

“We’ve been getting the evidence from London, I don’t know why they’re trying you here, but honestly the evidence does look to be in your favor.”

“Tell Miles Spidey’s gonna get out of here. One way or another.” He personally didn’t believe it himself, but he had to keep the people happy. Miles was counting on him. No, New York was counting on him. 

“Oh, I told him that yesterday. How are you feeling, honestly? I don’t deal with kids a lot, but I know this is hard.”

“I feel conflicted. I feel like I’m letting everything go, and I’m becoming someone but I don’t know who I’m becoming, and it’s like? I know how people are going to change and become different but like, what if I’m losing myself in the process? I didn’t want my identity revealed for a reason. And I don’t really want to talk about it with my girlfriend or my friends because I’m terrified. What if me being out there hurts them all? What if it ends up ruining their lives?”

“You see, that difference you talk about so strongly, is what makes you great. I don’t agree with you personally on how you handle your being a vigilante, but you have New York’s best interest at heart. You have everyone’s best interest at heart.” Jefferson then took his exit, knowing the hard truths he just had to tell, and what he had to say to the vigilante.

Another three figures stepped into the cell, the familiar voice of Matt Murdock filling the room. “Kid. You’re a vigilante. It’s awful to be against the law, trust me, it’s one of my vices, but you’re trying to do something for everyone. I grew up in Hell’s Kitchen, Peter. My parents were murdered, and that’s what made me want to do something about the world we live in. It’s just who we are as people.” 

“I just gained powers and realized that I should have some kind of responsibility in all of this, you know?” 

“I can understand that. It was like that for us, too. Jen got her powers unexpectedly from radiation, and I got my powers after going blind. We ended up becoming something better for our love of people. And that’s what we’re going to sell you with. You’re going to be the everyman. Just like you always were.”

“And how would you do that?” He furrowed his brows. Proving his innocence was going to be like finding a needle in a haystack. 

“Character witnesses, experts in the field, and pretty much anything we can find to piece together the case.” Jen countered. “You’re a superhero and your approval rate is astounding. You have less casualties than Steve Rogers, kid.”

“Anyone can have less casualties than him. I love Mister America, but he’s… a mess.”

“The point is,” Jen continues, her eyes practically gazing into Peter’s soul. “We have a credibility with you. We have something to work with opposed to Mysterio’s… for lack of a better term, bullshit.”

“Ok. But just know, Beck had… a way with illusions. He could make things look like they weren’t. I saw so much.” He looked towards the wall, his eyes growing with tears. “I-I sometimes wonder if things are illusions are not. Sometimes Aunt May will want to hug me, and like, I can’t process it in my brain? And I love her, but.. the damage is done.” 

“Peter, I don’t want to sound like a dick.” Matt said, going towards the kid, sitting next to him. “But is it ok if we bring this up in the trial? It could allow for the case to be revisited and finally get the justice you deserve.” 

“My girlfriend would argue that more people than I do deserve justice in the legal system.” Peter joked around, obviously deflecting from the issue. “In all seriousness, she’s right.” 

“Yeah. But she wasn’t expecting you to end up in prison.” Jen said, rolling her eyes. “Let’s get to the point. Usually cases that are like this are long in terms of hours, but short in terms of days. Usually a week or so at most. Mainly because it’s 

a murder, these crimes get expedited a little more.” 

“Yeah. Sometimes it’ll take years to go to trial.” Matt added. sighing. “The Supreme Court case took around 5 years through Appellate courts and everything else.”

“But yours is of a pretty high caliber. You’re going to end up having a little bit to prove your case.” Jenn then remarked, scribbling notes in her notebook. She then turned to Matt. “Opening or closing?” 

“.. Closing arguments are my strong suit.”

“So I’ll introduce and we’ll trade up on witnesses?”

“Yeah. But I think we should probably plan this later. We have to make this case cohesive.”

“Peter. You’ve been great.” Matt then adds. “We’re gonna get you out of here. But I think we have to have a lawyer’s meeting that’s not in a prison.”

Peter reached across to Matt’s hand. “Yeah. Just don’t be a stranger. Prison is boring.” 

“Yeah. That’s what happens when you’re tried as an adult despite being a kid.”

“Yep.” Peter stresses, popping the “p”. “Besides, I’m just excited to get out of here.”

When they left, it was beginning to show how this took a toll on Peter. His eyes grew tired as he could feel a weariness in his soul. He was tired of fighting, always tired of getting up again, but getting knocked down, but knowing this is what he had to do. He was Spider-Man. It was his job to keep the neighborhood first. 

A week flew by before he was marched into trial feeling worse than a sinner in confession. Or, that’s how they would feel. He wouldn’t really know. 

He was paraded to a table, where he sat, his lawyers next to him as he awaits sentencing.

Jennifer Walters, attorney at large, wore a mask of steel. She was famous for how she presented herself in court, and the killer defense she could come up with given the time and resources, and she definitely had the time today. 

She marched to the center of the jury box, briefcase next to Murdock, and her eyes narrowed, but then sat next to Murdock, determination in her eyes, and a hunger for vengeance. The prosecution had the first move, as it was their home base, which just meant she needed a killer defense.

“On behalf of the state..” The prosecuting lawyer started out, her speech droning Peter’s ears as time went on. Was every opening statement this verbose? Apparently. 

Jen leaned over to Murdock, her eyes looking stone cold and fierce. “It’s Hogarth.” 

“I know. Prosecution must have had some money in their pocket for this one.” He sighs, looking over Jen’s notes. “We’re going to be fine. We’ve got the evidence lined up and we have the character witnesses.”

“I’m not the one who’s nervous, Matt.” She pointed to Peter, whose eyes filled with worry throughout the beginning of the speech. “Besides, Hogarth likes to play it safe unless it’s personal.” 

At the end of Hogarth’s statement, Jen immediately rose. She locked eyes with Peter and Matt, and she knew she could deliver. 

“This case ultimately has one central theme..” Jen started, clearing her throat beforehand to command the attention of the room, which you think a giant green woman would be able to do, but it’s court. “Betrayal.” The room paused, almost looking around for Jen’s next words, as the thought of betrayal at the public outing of Spider-Man seemed preposterous.

“Peter Parker was just a boy learning how to cope with the death of his father figure, and Quentin Beck, Mysterio, took advantage of him and framed him of an act of terrorism, and the murder of Beck himself. He went to Europe on a school trip, hoping to impress a girl, and had no idea of the weight of the world that was now on his shoulder. Parker’s mentor, the Late Tony Stark hoped that Mr. Parker could take his place in the way that he could see fit, but was struggling with grief, coming into a world that had changed so drastically from when he was gone, and he was alone.” Jen continued her narrative, her voice growing more and more sorrowful and sympathetic as it went along.   
  


“Normally Mr. Parker would not be the type to get involved with Mysterio, as he has an inherent sense for danger. However, during his compromised mental state, he trusted Beck. And that trust would be his downfall. My name is Jennifer Walters, and my co-counsel sitting down, is Matt Murdock, and we represent Mr. Parker, and we on his behalf contest that he is not guilty.” She concluded in a triumphant voice, sitting down next to her co-counsel. 

Hogarth rose again, her face obviously soured by the fanfare of the opening statement, but trying to retain professionalism at the same time. “The prosecution would like to call to the stand Eugene Thompson.”    
  


Peter’s eyes were practically bulging out of his head. Flash? Fuck. He’s doomed. Flash Thompson particularly hated him for some reason, and he could not figure out why. Surely when he found out Peter was Spider-Man, he was done for.

Flash marched to the stand, sitting in the chair, and his face curling into an expression of frowns? Sympathy? From Flash, that was like hell freezing over. 

The jury seated looked completely still as it seemed like the world was about to freeze over. Nothing could have terrified Peter more in the moment. 

“What is your full name?” 

“Eugene Thomspon.”   


  
“How old are you?”

“Around 17.” 

“Where do you go to school?”

“Midtown… the nerd school.”   
  


“Thank you. I direct your attention to the incident this summer: where were you during the time?”   
  
“London, on the way home, not too far from where Peter was when this happened.” 

“What were you doing at the time?” 

“I was with this old guy, who I think works for Spider-Man. Wasn’t aware Parker was rich enough to have his own staff, but you know, I didn’t know he was Spider-Man. He could be lying about his name for all I care.”   
  


“What did you see?” 

“I didn’t see much. We were all in a state of panic as these Elemental thingies were trying to kill us, you know?”

“How is your relationship with the accused?”

”Parker and I don’t get along. Then again, he lied about several things. He did know Tony Stark, though. But other than that, no.” 

“Do you remember the extent of the damage?”

“The London bridge was wrecked. And I just remember MJ and Ned running to meet Peter. But nothing else.” 

“No further questions.” Jeni Hogarth sighed, her eyes furrowing in frustration. “I’d like to call my next witne—“

A glass window was broken! Green mist filled the room, and a figure appeared in the jury box. “It is I, Quentin Beck!” Cold air drifted into the room, apparently it was winter? Peter was in a cell for so long he didn’t really know. 

“What the fuck!” Peter said, a rare outburst from the kid. He looked at the judge. "Sorry!" He chirped.

The honorable judge in this situation was shocked. She looked at Peter, who was still in a fighting stance.

“You almost got me in prison? And you interrupt your own murder trial to say you’ve NEVER DIED!” Peter was furious. “You’ve ruined my life, and you just decide to show up, for what?”

“To prove that I’m alive. That’s what a good actor does. Shock the audience.” 

“Yeah. I’ll shock you with this!” Peter said, climbing onto the wall in his handcuffs, using his strength to break out of his handcuffs. He then jumped on Mysterio, the green mist growing.

Mysterio was trying to project more illusions! Peter immediately got from his senses. He closed his eyes.  _ Trust yourself _ . Peter thought, feeling something flying closer to him. He put a hand out, gripping whatever was in his reach now, and then swinging it towards Mysterio.

“Hey Beck, FUCK YOU!” He yelled, swinging his foot around.

“Hey Peter, eyes up!”Jen yelled, growing more angry. She dashed towards Mysterio, Matt trying to evacuate everyone and create a diversion. 

Peter backflipped across the room, Mysterio on the offense again. “You can run, but you can’t hide, Parker!”

“Are you going to make everything you say a cliche? Come on, my girlfriend makes a better supervillain than you.”

“Why not stop talking and come fight me, Pete?” 

“Why not stop trying to use drones to make up for the fact that you can’t fight?” Peter said, climbing towards the ceiling. “MATT! FIND HAPPY!”

“I’m right here, dingus!” Happy threw up a package, and Peter grabbed it, knowing it was his suit. 

Peter smiled. “Thanks for the delivery, Uncle Happy!” He shot a web toward a drone, slinging it back into Mysterio. He rested towards the wall, on the defense. 

He turned around, feeling a punch incoming. He spun around and kicked the victim. He backhanded it again, just to make sure.

Mysterio appeared next to Peterc taking the spider by surprise and getting a good jab on his nose. “Missed me!”

Peter, while taken aback, felt Mysterio’s cape, and then gripped it in his hands. “You do realize Edna Mode said no capes for a reason, right? He spun Mysterio as far as he could into the wall. 

Mysterio got up, while damaged, but still packing a punch. “I thought Spider-Man likes capes.”

“I only like one cape and that’s because he’s saved my life!” He punched Mysterio again. He then remembered Natasha and her special move. 

_ “Breathe, little spider. You just need to strangle him.” _

_ “Like a black widow does with its prey?” _

_ “Exactly.”  _

He swung his legs around the fishbowl, using his upper body strength to peel it off of his face, and then, put his legs around Beck’s neck. He kept fighting his way to keep on his head. He then let up once he finally got the upper hand, shifting his strength downward towards the floor, but being careful enough not to kill Beck. That wasn’t his job.

He then opened his eyes. Quentin Beck had fallen perfectly into the chair, and Peter took off his mask, facing the judge. “I believe that we have found that I’m not guilty of murder, your honor?”

The judge nodded her head, facing towards Matt and Jennifer. “I believe it is the defense’s turn to argue why Mr. Parker is not a terrorist.”

Matt Murdock stepped back into the courtroom, along with the jury. “Thanks to investigation around the crime scene, and the government giving us permission to show these documents and videos. Here is our proof. In this document, we see Quentin Beck had been fired from his job for being mentally unstable, and unfit for the job..”

He continues, a drone flying toward his back, Peter flying behind it and killing it silently. “But, we also have a report of character witnesses and video of the crime itself and its orchestration.” He turned to Beck. “Did you record your planning meetings?”

“Yeah. So we could remember them, like any good person would.”

Matt faced the judge. “Permission to play the video, Your Honor.”

On the screen for the whole world to see, was a video taken from a recovered drone. Apparently EDITH had a failsafe in case she was compromised, and she delivered it wrapped up in a Christmas present. Peter felt a smile appearing on his face. 

_ “We send all the drones!” Mysterio’s voice echoed.  _

_ “I need that kid dead! That... brat!" Mysterio threw his fist into a table. "That brat is Tony Stark's legacy. And like everything Tony Stark related, it needs to die! Whether I win or not, I NEED that kid out of the way!" He boomed._

_"What about we expose his identity?" Someone on the crew said, out of the camera's focus. _

_ "Perfect. If I can't have what I want.. neither can he." Mysterio then delved into a cackle, as the camera blacked out._

The video abruptly stopped, the jury stunned. “Your Honor, do I have to repeat that video?” 

“Understood, loud and clear.”

“Objection!” Mysterio yelled.

“Overruled. Only attorneys can use that line. And for that, you’ve got yourself a charge of contempt of court.” The judge smiled in Peter’s direction. “And I believe it is now time for the jury to convene..”

The jury talked amongst themselves for a few minutes, then stopping. 

The bailiff stood before them. “All in favor of voting guilty, raise your hand.”

No hand went up.

“Not guilty?”

Every hand in the room went up. 

The judge smiled. “Aside from the… interruption to this case. Peter Parker has been found not guilty of first-degree murder, destruction of property, assault, and defiling a hero.”

She then turned to Quentin. “You, however, are not so lucky. On top of your charges for contempt of court, you have first-degree murder, attempted murder, property defamation, destroying international treasures and monuments, and you have to be tried in front of the Hague.” She then turned back to Peter. “Go in peace. The trial has ended.”

Peter smiled, looking at MJ, and running towards her. He swung upside down on the wall, capturing her in the biggest kiss he could. “It’s all ok now!” He said, once he let go of her. 

“Yeah. It is, Spider-Man.”

He hopped off the ground only to be tackled in hugs, Happy closing in on him and picking him up like a baby. Aunt May cried into his shoulder. Ned was also crying, and Morgan was hugging his waist. He had his family back. He had his life back.

And best of all, New York and the people still knew he had their backs. He looked outside in the cold, snowy weather. He turned to Aunt May and he whispered. “I know you celebrate Christmas, but we can try to create a blend.”

“Well yeah, Peter. You’ve been in prison for months.” 

Peter turned to Matt and Jen. “I thought you said weeks! It’s Hanukkah.”

“Well… We kinda lost track of time trying to prove your case.” Matt said, ruffling the boy’s hair. 

“Which kind of proved to be useless since Mysterio did the work for us.” Jen added. “Go and enjoy it.”

Peter smiled, facing MJ and taking her hand. “I believe I owe you some time’s worth of dates.”

“.... Five months. But it can wait. We got a holiday to celebrate.”

Peter smiled, looking at everyone. “This is the greatest thing I could’ve asked for.”  ****

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Holidays, y'all! Whatever you celebrate, you deserve to have a nice and peaceful situation! Thanks for reading this, it genuinely was a ton of work to get through. The research about the court system outside of my government classes, a lot. Here we go.


	4. Chapter 4: I Think Your Love Would Be Too Much

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> College, but a surprise.

**Chapter 4: I Think Your Love Would Be Too Much**

  
  


Peter was walking down the street next to his girlfriend, his earbuds in, and her hand in his. It truly couldn’t get any better than this. He was out of prison, his girlfriend was still hopelessly in love with him, and he was about to find out his future. They were going on a coffee date, as MJ had insisted on spending every waking minute with him since he was let out of prison.

He stopped, going into the cafe, and looking directly into her eyes. 

MJ paused, her face getting more and more confused. “Peter.. Is something going on?”   
  


He smiled his usual lovesick smile, his deep brown eyes looking into her soul. “Maybe. But my Spidey Sense definitely wanted me to notice how beautiful you are.” 

She kissed his cheek, turning to the line in front of them. “Why did you choose this place?”   
  
“It was called Foam Party, how could I not resist?” 

“Peter, your penchant for puns and witty dialogue never gets old.” She said, rolling her eyes. She secretly loved it though. She loved his gift for witty comebacks and dialogue, as he helped design every sign for every march that she wanted them to go to. She had gotten him into so many things, queer and black feminist thought, new genres of music… MJ had just really broadened Peter’s eyes as a person. 

She liked to say that he had done the same for her, but in a different way. Peter liked to say that’s how they worked, always making each other better, but MJ would just silence him with a kiss to his lips, and nothing more. 

“I know I’m not usually in Brooklyn, but I heard from an old friend that this place was really good.” Peter smiled, thinking of the officer that helped give him a little piece of sanity in prison. 

“Hi, welcome to Foam Party! Can I take your order?” The barista said as the two were at the front of the line. They were turned to the back, gathering more coffee to grind, as crowds of customers walked in. 

“Uh… yeah, actually.” Peter chuckled. “I’ll have a... “ He looked at the menu. “White hot chocolate, with.. A cinnamon raisin bagel.” He smiled and turned to his girlfriend. “Babe, what do you want?” 

“Black iced coffee. Add the Bantam bagels, too.”

“And who can I make that out to?” The barista was about to turn around, writing their orders on the cups.

“Peter.” He said, popping the ‘p’, earning an eye roll from his girlfriend. 

“Cool. Thank you.” They absentmindedly pointed toward the electronic credit card reader, motioning for Peter to pay. So, he did. 

They waited a couple of minutes, talking about a variety of different things as time went by.

“So.. Peter.” She said, her eyes becoming almost still. He hated knowing what that meant. That meant MJ needed to get something off of her chest.

  
“Yeah, babe?” He swung his arm around her waist, but she smiled.    
  
“I got into NYU. I really wanted to go to see how good their film program is. Plus I kind of want to double major in business and minor in women’s studies.” 

“MJ! That’s really cool! I.. applied there too..” He trailed off, his eyes looking kind of distant. He never wanted to leave New York, but if the colleges he applied to out of state offered him the most money, he knew that was where he was going. “I mean I also applied to Columbia, and Fordham, and practically every good school in the city. But I also applied to Carnegie Mellon and MIT...” 

He trailed off, thinking of Tony’s oversized MIT sweatshirt he had given him, just on a random night over his house, as Tony complained that Peter didn’t have any real comfort clothes. Peter countered that they literally couldn’t afford it, and Tony had just given him a plethora of sweatshirts.    
  


For some reason, he couldn’t get the smell of motor oil out of them, but it reminded him of Tony. He wanted to make him proud.. In whatever way that he could. Or was he just disappointing him? Nothing made any sense, and he and MJ were both exhausted from having to figure out the logistics of the mission itself. He had lost months worth of figuring it all out.. 

He seemed to waste every good opportunity life gave him, huh?   
  


“Order for.. Peter?” A barista called, coming back to reality. Peter stepped out of the corner of the room, meaning to grab the Starbucks order and a tip.    
  


“It’s Spider-Man!” The barista almost yells. Everyone instantly becomes heated. He hated this part. Having his identity revealed was the worst. 

He had a kid thrown at him, and he signed their Spider-Man merch, gave a few selfies, but was disrupted on his date, which ultimately just made him unsettled. It’s not like he wasn’t grateful for the people of New York, who kept fucking up so much, he had to keep cleaning it up. He liked that part. He just hated the publicity and the attention and it being so.. much. 

MJ gripped his hand, pulling him in a direction as he was in a situation. 

“I gotta see you later! I love you, New York! Bye!” He said as he put his finger in a hand sign. 

“Are you ok?” was the first thing she said as she dragged him to a safe area. She knew Peter had a tendency to get anxious, despite him not wanting to admit it. 

“It was… a lot. So much..” He breathed heavily, his loving girlfriend wrapping her arms around him.    
  


“You didn’t need to take me out to Brooklyn..”

“But I wanted to. MJ, you think for Spider-Man to be New York’s hero, he really doesn’t venture out of the neighborhoods as much.”

“Peter. We go to school in Midtown Manhattan… but also, you’re just one guy. Doing so much. In your neighborhood. Hell’s Kitchen has Daredevil and the Defenders. You’re doing great.” She reassured, knowing her boyfriend was sensitive about the subject. He always felt like he had to be doing more. And she didn’t want him to feel the brunt of his inadequacies. 

Peter shook his head. “.... I’m really not.” He stopped, biting his tongue. 

A long pause took the room, Peter shaking and tears coming out of his eyes. 

“I’m supposed to be the one to save everyone.” He looked away. “I couldn’t save Tony… He died because of me. MJ, he died. Because of me! It was my fault.”

“It was never your fault! He chose to die. But he also knows that you could save him. Have you tried anything lately?”

He paused. “No.” 

“But he believed in you. He believed in you more than most people did, sometimes more than you’d like to admit.”

“... But I can’t seem to figure any of this out! I’m just stressed and tired and… and…” He held closer to MJ. “Sometimes I don't want to get up. Spider-Man always gets back up. It’s what he does. It’s what he’s always done. It’s what he will do. But I just..” He stopped. “I just--.” He tried starting again, eventually giving up with a short “I can’t do this.” 

  
“Peter. I know what it’s like to feel helpless in a situation…” Her face softened, touching his cheek. “But.. the thing is? As much as we want it to stop, you know you have to keep fighting it, right?” 

“I know.. I know, Peter. I know..”    
  
He closed his eyes, breathing in slowly, and relaxing into her arms. “I haven’t had asthma in years, but yet I feel like I can’t breathe more than when I had it.” 

“I know. Are you ok now?” 

“Yeah. I’m ok.” 

She gave Peter his white hot chocolate and his bagel, sipping her iced coffee. 

“Thanks, MJ.” He said, taking a bite out of his bagel. His eyes were stained red with tears, but he was cooling down. He couldn’t let anyone know that New York’s symbol of hope was fading. As much as he wanted to feel, he knew he couldn’t.

“Peter.. You don’t have to keep it all bottled up inside.. You’re such a conflicting person. When you’re not in the mask, you’re like a tiny house cat I want to keep safe and wrapped and bundled up in a blanket, and when you’re in the mask, you.. You are a tiger. Fierce. The real King of the Jungle, who wants to protect his territory. That’s two whole identities fighting each other, and everyone knows now which should make it easier, but it’s not. But I know who you are. And let’s face it, Tiger, you’ve hit the jackpot.”   
  


“How can you say that?” His throat tightened, he turned away, he knew he wasn’t being the person MJ believed he could be. But he couldn’t change himself.

“Because, you’re not alone. While you’re fighting yourself, all of the time.” She paused, cupping his face. “You’ve got me. And I care about you. Some might even say that.. I love you.” She said, pausing. 

Peter’s heart was beating faster, almost averting his eyes to MJ’s. “MJ.. you sure you want to say that?”   
  


“I’m sure, Peter.”   
  


“That means you’re in danger. MJ! I love you, too!” His voice broke, his breath heaving in and out. “But everyone I love! Everyone I care about! Everyone ends up hurt! Everyone ends up dead! Uncle Ben, Tony… my Mom, my Dad…” He trailed off. “I used to hope it was me someday. I used to pray that it would take me instead of Aunt May. I love her so much. I love I definitely don’t deserve you.. MJ.. I don’t want you to die because of me. I am cursed with the worst luck in the universe. Don’t you guys know? That I’m just going to kill whatever I touch? And yet you don’t wanna walk away…” He paused. His eyes were watering, almost more than he could bear, and he didn’t want MJ to see him cry, again. This was supposed to be their date.

“Peter. I know you don’t think I mean this, but I am serious when I say that nothing could take me away from you if it tried. I want to be with you. I want to see how this goes. I will kick the universe’s ass for you. You believe in me, right?”

“Yeah. I do. I fell in love with you years ago because of how much I believed in you.”

“Then trust me, Tiger.”

“Ok.” The tears finally gave way, but he blinked them back. 

“Just for the record, I love you very much. And I know I sound bossy sometimes, but I do. And.. I am in it for the long haul, Parker.”

Peter took another bite of his bagel, eventually finishing it with the coffee. With the food disposed of properly, because Spider-Man doesn’t litter and neither should anyone else, they set out on their way.

“You know. It’s been a while since I’ve talked to May.” MJ added. “You think we should swing by?”

“Literally or physically, because I may or may not have my web shooters under my jacket. But first, let me let her know.” He paused. “Karen, send a text to May saying that MJ’s coming over.”   
  


MJ cracked a smile. “I don’t mind swinging around..” She started, grabbing his hand. 

He smirked. “You know you gotta get on my back, right?”    
  


“I know. Shut up.” She said, laughing, before she moved behind him, hooking her legs around him. “Are you ready?” She asked, leaning her head onto his back.

“Yeah. I’ve got you.” 

“Peter, you sure?”

“Sure as  _ hell. _ Ready for takeoff?” He said, his hand gracefully wrapping around her. 

“Yeah. Just let me—!” Peter had already aimed, and they were off. leaping in the air. MJ let out a screech to the world below, and everyone had to look up, as there was now Spider-Man, making his ascent above human-kind, a beacon of light in New York City. It was never a wonder why he was beloved as his presence seemed to leave most in awe. 

A camera flashed, MJ hiding her face in his arms. Despite being his girlfriend, she wasn’t ready for the spotlight, and Peter respected it as much as possible. But, this feeling? He  _ never _ wanted it to go away.

This was his favorite part of the job, slinging from rooftop to rooftop, feeling like he was flying, and the world was all below him. New York was his picture to view, and he was somehow the observer, who got to see all of the bustling activity, good and bad. Sometimes he saw proposals in the street, sometimes he saw muggings, and sometimes he even managed to witness it all in a day. New York, New York is a magical place. He couldn’t trade it for anywhere else.

Peter Parker was flying. Michelle Jones was screaming. “Hey, babe!” He said, casually. “Can we stop at Stark Tower before heading back to Queens?”

“I thought they sold it.”

“It became a monument after he died…” Peter stopped. “Just got a lot of memories right there. Besides, Aunt May doesn’t know that we’re coming, so we can stall a little bit?”

“Yeah. We can go.” She knew how important this place was to him. It almost made him yell out to New York that he loved this woman, and he would do anything for her. 

“Besides, this is the best view in all of the city. I wanted to take you here one time on a date but then I found out you were scared of heights, and then we worked through that so..”

“Peter, you’re rambling again. If this is so important to you, I wanna see it. Didn’t you visit every weekend?” 

“Yeah, MJ. We did. Besides, I think there might be some clues left behind for the project.”

“Do you always have an ulterior motive to things?”

“No!” He interjected, his voice going up an octave. “What made you get that idea? Besides, I thought we were in this together.”

“I’m just playing with you, Tiger.” She said, casually grabbing onto his hips. “You think you’ll be able to slip in.”

“Yeah. FRIDAY is still in the building, they could never take that out. Mister Stark tried, but that would require a complete reboot. So, sometimes we would end up back up here for that reason.”

“Ok. Let’s do this, Potter.”

“Astute as always, Granger.” He laughed. “You’re such a Slytherin though!”

“You’re a Hufflepuff, Peter. You’re so nice..” She blushed, turning her head away. 

A few minutes passed in silence, Peter feeling like he was above the world, above the struggles he still had to work through, and then he realized he had to come down. Also, because he was literally at the base of the Tower. “Preparing for landing!” He yelled back at her.

“Then do it.” She challenged him, letting out a “whoop!” as the 

He safely landed on the building, then letting MJ gracefully off of his back. He stood on the deck, far above the rest of the city, luckily. Otherwise, he’d probably be arrested again. “Hey FRI.” 

A pause. Peter’s heart rate began to jump. Did something happen to FRIDAY? 

“Peter.” She said, hesitantly. “It has been.. over 545 days, 12 hours, and eight minutes since you’ve last been here.” 

“Sorry, FRIDAY.” He replied, sheepishly. “Can you let me in?” He asked gently, he was always good with stretching his luck with her.

The doors opened discreetly, MJ heading in right behind Peter.

“Can you point me to where the lab was, Friday? I think Mister Stark left something behind.” He said.

“Through the doors on your left.” She replied. “I forgot that it has been almost two years.” She said, almost somberly. Could a robot feel? Maybe she could. Tony built her after all, and he did treat her like she was human.

Peter and MJ made the walk to the lab, looking in the room. “There’s nothing here…” He stopped, looking around, closing his eyes.   
  
MJ lurked behind, trying to look for a trace of anything Tony left behind. Then, she stopped. “FRIDAY.. I’m MJ.. I know you don’t know me.. But where’s your operating system based?”   
  
“It is in a secret room in the building. However, my protocols do bar me from allowing you to get to it.”    
  
Peter opened his eyes. “I know where it is.”   
  
“I thought you could only sense danger.”    
  


“Nah. Spidey Sense can tell me anything it thinks I need to know.” Peter hit a specific patch of the wall, showing a secret door. A room full of wires came into view, with a computer in the center, and someone almost menacingly standing at the computer. The man then turned around. 

“Turns out I can’t even get what I want when the bastard is dead..” A voice let out, eerily and hauntingly familiar. 

“I thought you were in.. in jail.” Peter’s voice let out. He looked over to MJ. She reached inside of her backpack, taking out her own pair of web shooters, and also, surprisingly, a mace. 

“For someone with a self-proclaimed Peter Tingle, you surely didn’t see this coming.” The chilling voice boomed throughout the air. The figure continued, knowing his presence was going to evoke fear into Peter Parker.

“Does Liz know?” Peter said, his voice so small against the looming presence in the air. “Surely.. She would know if.. If you were out of jail, right?” 

The figure turned around, Adrian Toomes using his wings to propel himself over Peter. “I only care about her safety. You think I would tell her about my own plans? How do you think she still has a life, Peter? It’s because of what I do. Because I do it for her. And you’re not going to tell her any of this. Because I’ll kill you before you do.” 

“More like I’ll put you back in the big birdhouse where you belong.” He retorted, touching Toomes’s wing with his hand.

“Besides, you didn’t show my little girl a good time that night…” Toomes started, dragging off, his wing reaching towards MJ only to find she wasn’t where she originally was! Peter started to panic, his girlfriend seeming nowhere to be seen. Toomes then just stared back at Peter. “I was going to say that maybe I’ll just go through your girl.. But… Maybe I’ll have to go through you.” His voice lowered, his arm reaching toward the teenager, to put him in a chokehold.

It reached, just missing his neck, by a web-like fluid.

  
A voice rang out. “You trying to get to my boyfriend, Toomes?” MJ said, revealing herself to have shot Toomes with the web shooters Peter had made for her. “Because I’m afraid I can’t let that happen.” She taunted, Toomes slicing through the web with his wangs, and him turning his hulking form towards MJ. 

“You want to die, little girl?” He murmured, almost too close to her face. She smirked, almost tauntingly. “You see, if you so much as hurt a hair on my head, I have no doubt in my mind Peter would tear you apart. You underestimate him.”

The Vulture looked toward MJ. “You’re like my daughter. So naive as to how the world works. And how much things change before your eyes. You think Parker’s gonna stick around you? He’s got New York. And the world changes. You honestly think you estimate him properly? You’re both going to college..” 

MJ didn’t shrink, Peter in the corner of her peripheral vision. The words Adrian seemed to want her to hear just faded in the background. It was almost evident, as the man’s face began to harden. 

Peter snuck behind him, his hands displaying a countdown to MJ. She reached for her web shooters, Peter counting down.

_ 5…  _ She could feel her breath quickening.

  1. She grabbed her arm, aiming at his legs, with Peter going in for the kill.

  1. She prayed to whatever being there was out there that this would work.

  1. He looked at her, mouthing the words “I love you.” 
  2.   
She shot, the shot landing around his legs. Peter, luckily wearing his customized suit, went to work on the wings of the suit, dismantling them by using the programmed web settings mixed with different elements. The sticky adhesiveness of the webs seemed to congeal into the electrical workings of the wings, causing the metal to unbind.

Peter smiled, yelling a casual “Good job, babe!” and carrying on his way.   
  


MJ returned the smile. “You gotta tell me how you did that later.” She said, taking out her mace, getting a couple of runs in with the Vulture. Peter used the ceiling beams to swing around, almost like a trapeze artist, but with more of an edge to him. While he was occupied with MJ, he swung around, kicking him in the head, knocking him down to the ground!   
  


MJ grabbed her taser. “Should I?”

FRIDAY interjected. “There are more life signals detected in the Tower.” 

The Vulture smiled. “You didn’t think I wouldn’t make friends in prison, did you? Let me tell you kid, there’s a whole lot more people that hate you than you realize.” 

Green smoke faded into the room, feeling overly grandiose. Five more figures lurked into the room, let alone the familiar faces he had already faced before. 

A scream was let out into the air! 

Peter froze. His heart was beating inside of his chest. He couldn’t freeze. He needed to do something. So he chose to deflect.

“Let me guess. You just wanted to screw with my brain even more. Have you ever considered going into neurology since you wanna study mine so much?”

“Stop talking, you spoiled brat. Let’s fight.”

He closed his eyes, breathing in and out. The already wounded Toomes had gotten back up, towering over him. He jumped onto the wall, moving around the wall with ease. He then shot a Taser Web at his backside. The congealed metal broke apart instantly. 

“You know, I let you bat first. And since I got on base, I’ll be taking my inning.” He took a metal shard from Toomes’s back, pausing, taking in the area around him. He took an aim, throwing the shard at a drone. He then shot a web, tazing another one, then propelling himself over them all, sticking to the ceiling. 

“You know, you’re taking too long.”   
  


“Wasn’t aware I had struck out. I’m sorry.” He webbed up another shard, throwing it at Mysterio’s stupid glass fishbowl helmet. The glass went flying, the newer enemies screaming in pain. A zolt went through Peter!    
  
“I’m afraid I don’t appreciate you copying my gimmick.” The voice replied.

“Who are you?”

“Did no one introduce you to me? Come on, Quentin!”   
  


“The kid doesn’t know me either!” Another voice joined in. 

“Otto. I’m pretty sure the kid knows who you are. He just doesn’t know who you are right now.” 

“He doesn’t know me either!” 

“So who the hell do I know?” Peter chimed in. 

Silence entered the room.

  
“You know, for villains, I was expecting more subtlety, but you just decided to kidnap my girlfriend like every fucking cliche does.”    
  


“You got a mouth, Parker.” Toomes interjected.

  
“Didn’t get to kiss your daughter with it. Why do you care now?” He smirked, webbing the ceiling for one strand to fall, almost like aerial silks. “My webs may be able to shock you.. But let’s be real. You don’t want me.. No, no you guys just want Mr. Stark’s stuff.” He made a signal, MJ’s eyes lighting up. 

She looked at the web slingers on her wrist.  _ She had to do this for Peter. She couldn’t fail at this point. _

She aimed her web slinger to aim for the larger man’s hands, temporarily binding them together. She aimed her foot towards her captor, kicking him in a place where he probably shouldn’t be. He dropped the gun he had been holding to her head, thus freeing her. She grabbed her mace, Beck ran towards her. 

“You!” Punch.

  
“Manipulative!” Slap.   
  


“Bitch!” Spit.

“Go! Somewhere! Else!” Headbutt!    
  


With two enemies temporarily knocked out, Peter webbing them in his extra adhesive webs to make sure those two wouldn’t escape, he found himself with four more people in the room.

“Te odio.” 

“Yeah, yeah. I hate myself too.” 

“Wait. You speak Spanish?”   
  
“Genius kid who lives in Manhattan and shops at bodegas like his life depends on it. Think I would understand a simple ‘I hate you.’” 

“Un pinche idiota.” The foe mutters, Peter smiling as he grabs onto the web strand he had pulled, pulling himself onto it. He put force so that he sped past the Scorpion, knocking him in the face, and his leg being in the position enough to kick him in the stomach. 

“See. It doesn’t matter who you are. I’ll still end up striking you out.” 

Another jolt of electricity went through him. “Might want to think again.”    
  
“You know, I’m beginning to think that it’s time to go for a swim.”   
  
A pause.    
  
“You know Little Spider, you and I are one and the same.” A vaguely Russian voice fills the room, almost like he had been living in America for a while. “We both like to crush our enemies.”   
  
“Difference is, I don’t like to kill. Or hurt you more than I have to.” 

“But you still feel the urge to fight. You’re more like us than you realize.”   
  
“Can you shut up and fight me already?”

The towering figure took a step forward, swinging. The feeling of electricity still in his veins. Peter smirked. “Hey Karen, switch to operation Sink or Swim.” His web slingers had switched to flames, and he aimed them at the ceiling. Water poured down, temporarily short circuiting the current! 

Yes! He felt the rush of having figured something out on the fly, but it was halted with a hand against his throat. 

The material felt weird. Sand? He stopped. “MJ, Operation Tiger King!” 

“Fine!” She yelled, growling, as she aimed her web shooters toward the source, then growling afterward. Peter, taking advantage of the distraction, crawled out from underneath his hands, then using his flame shooters to burn the victim.    
  


“Milady, think it’s your turn to do the honors. I have someone else to catch.” 

The being appeared in front of him, Peter finally opening his eyes. “What the fuck are you?”    
  


“I am dreams, and I am nightmares.”   
  


“You can’t be either one of those things.”    
  


“Fine. I’m Sandman.”    
  


“Cool, Sandman. Spider-Man. And I have a dinner date at 6 so we have to make this quick.”   
  


He reached towards his foam web shooters, along with his chemical disruptors he had made with the other day.    
  


“This isn’t meant to take long, and this is all experimental to the point that this will suck, but you’re going to feel h--!”   
  


“Peter, just get him already!”   
  


He sighed, mixing the fluid, expanding the disruptor towards Sandman, causing a man to emerge, passed out. 

He then webbed them all up properly, then calling his clean-up contact.

“Hey... It’s Peter Parker, Spider-Man, you know. Have you got anyone in Manhattan near Stark Tower? Five minutes? Thanks.” He hung up the phone, grabbing MJ’s hand. 

“Milady. I believe we have an Aunt May to see.” 

“We do. But aren’t you going to look for what we came here for?”   
  
“Oh, right.” He entered the system, looking for anything that he could find. Something. Anything. Nothing. “So we really just wasted our time. I’m sorry, babe.”   
  
“But you prevented a mass information breach of one of the most sensitive security systems on the planet. Peter. You’re still great.”   
  
He then took her across the now night sky of New York, landing in his window.    
  


“Peter? You back?”    
  


“Yeah. I grabbed MJ. Can she stay?”   
  
“You kidding me? Of course she can stay. Also, I got a ton of college letters today. Don’t know if you want to see them, but they came.”   
  
“Of course I do! Are you kidding me?”

“That’s how I feel about you asking if MJ can stay.”   
  


“Fine.” He changed out of his outfit, gently leaving his suit in its case to replenish itself. He then changed into something looser, an oversized sweater with black leggings. 

MJ stepped out of the room once he changed, helping May with dinner. 

“Where’d you get it from this time?” MJ inquired.

  
“Uh, I got it from the Thai place by the hospital.” 

“Makes sense. Hey, babe. Can you pass me a spring roll?”

She passed him three spring rolls. “You’re always so hungry.”   
  
“I metabolize too quickly.” He shrugged. “I also can’t have sugar or caffeine. Peppermint also makes me berzerk. It’s tough being part spider.”   
  
“But the human part of you has to choose where he wants to go to college.” May interjected.   
  
“Can we at least wait until dinner is over?”   
  
“Fine.” May conceded, sensing Peter’s tension.

“So, how have things been, May? I didn’t get to ask you as we were kind of listening to music while setting the table.” MJ smoothly tried to change the subject, knowing the tension was thick enough to cut a knife. Why was Peter being so secretive from them? Usually, he trusted her.    
  


“Pretty good. Happy and I are having a good time just being with each other. Thanks for dating him, because you take him out of the house sometimes.”

Peter smiled. “You guys are good for each other.”    
  
“I’m thinking he might propose soon.” She teased. “I mean, the last date he seemed nervous and fidgety, and you know.”   
  


“Happy sucks at being subtle unless the world literally depends on it.” Peter noted, using his chopsticks to dig into his rice. “I wouldn’t be surprised.” 

“How long have you guys been dating?” She asks MJ, who was silently observing the two. As much as she wanted to bond with May, it feels like MJ existed in another world than these two did. 

MJ took a bite of her spring roll. “It’s around January… So.. It’s going to be two years in July.”

Peter swallowed a bite of his lettuce wraps. MJ was a vegetarian and he was trying to accomodate, but also try to switch over to it when he could. “I can’t believe it’s been two years. Ned and Betty only lasted a week.” 

“Yeah. But I think you and I are a lot more serious.” She smiled at him, touching his cheek.    
  


“I should hope so..” He smiled. 

“Hey, babe. You want some of my deep fried tofu?” MJ asked, grabbing a piece of tofu with her chopsticks.

“Sure.” He opened his mouth for MJ to put it in there.    
  
“You know you owe me an oversized hoodie, right?”   
  


“Wouldn’t doubt it. But I love you anyway.”    
  
“When did you drop the ‘l’ word?” May asked, sipping a cup of Thai iced tea.   
  


MJ and Peter looked away. “Uh.. it’s kind of new.” They said simultaneously, covering their mouths immediately afterward, then falling into a laugh.    
  


“....Ok..” May sighed. “I’ll never understand you.” 

“We aim to be hard to figure out, Aunt May.”   
  


The evening continued with that banter, almost rocking on the eve of tension. Then, dinner was over, and the letters were handed out.

Columbia.. MIT.. Fordham.. NYU..    
  


It was now Peter realized how many colleges he had applied to. And how many rejections could possibly be in that pile.    
  
He seemed hesitant. 

“Peter.. You’re fine. You’re the salutatorian and you have a 4.2 cumulative GPA. You’re going to be ok.”    
  


He paused. “Yeah, that’s because you’re valedictorian.. They’d never want the second best.”   
  


“Peter. Parker. You’re literally Spider-Man. Now hurry up and open up the letters so that I get to scream and tackle my nephew in hugs. Besides, I know there’s one more letter.”   
  


“Another letter?” Peter paused. “You mean…”    
  


“Yeah.” 

He opened up Fordham’s letter. “I got in. Partial scholarship.” He smiled. “Not my top choice, but I’ll take it.”

“You’re not even going to try to open up the others?”

He sighed. “Fine.” He grabbed another letter. 

He paused. 

MJ looked over his shoulder. “Peter this is huge!” 

“What is it, MJ?”   
  
“He got a full ride to MIT, even though Tony left him some money to pay for college.”   
  
“Petey pie that’s amazing!” 

He still paused, his hands tensing. He took a breath. He exhaled. His fingers seemed to clench up.    
  


MJ immediately went in for the hug. 

“.. I don’t want to leave New York.” His voice trembled, his eyes filling with tears.    
  


“Even if it’s the best thing for your future? Peter, I hate to say it but New York has many heroes now. There’s Daredevil. There’s.. The Fantastic Four. Heck, even the rest of the Defenders now.”   
  
“Yeah, but.. New York has always been there for me.”   
  
“You can always visit. And besides. You gotta see what’s out there for you.”

He paused. “I don’t know if I should.”   
  


“Doesn’t matter if you don’t know. This could be huge for you. Peter, you’re so gifted. You have to give yourself a chance or what’s the point?” 

He yelled in exasperation. “Can I just open the other letters now? Because you’re just stressing me out! People always want me to choose--” He stopped, his tears flowing down his face. “And what if I’m just not ready?” He felt his legs collapse underneath of him, falling onto the floor in a cocoon almost. 

“I know it sucks for things to cha--!”   
  


“I don’t want to lose you guys because I’m far away and I can’t stop it. I.. I just can’t help thinking about what will happen to you guys.”   
  


“It’s just a couple of hours away. And plus, Happy could always get the Quinjet for you.”   
  


“But what happens with Spider-Man?” 

“Everyone needs him now, not just New York. But New York will always be the place for Spider-Man..” 

He opened another letter. “I got into Columbia on a full ride too..” He smiled wistfully. “I wouldn’t be that far.” 

“But is that really what you want?” 

He sighed. “I don’t know. I just want to be able to experience everything but also be there for other people.” 

“I know you do. Just think about it, Peter.” May said, leaving the room for him and MJ to talk. 

She pulled him in for a kiss. “I’m not going to force anything on you. You’re my boyfriend, not a person to be commanded around.”

He smiled against her, just absorbing her presence. “I just want this all to be ok.”   
  


“I have a feeling it will. You’re going to be gone and it’ll be ok. I got into more than one college as well…” She shrugged, almost looking to the side. 

“Where else?”   
  
“Ivy sweep.”

“But you want NYU. You’ve wanted NYU for the longest because you love the culture there. And also it’s in your favorite part of New York.”

“Nah. Nothing can beat Queens. But Greenwich Village is pretty nice.” 

“That’s how I feel about MIT.. but I don’t want to feel like I can’t be someone else other than Tony. I don’t want to feel trapped in his shadow and doing exactly what he did.”   
  


“It’s been forever since he went there, though. You may have known him, but you’re you. You could make an impact anywhere.”   
  


“New York is my home, though.”    
  


“I know. But you can’t let where you’ve been tie you up into who you’re going to be. You can be in Massachusetts for a while. We’ll be apart, but I’ll visit.” She planted a kiss on his cheek. 

“So you’re saying I should go for it.”   
  
“.. Not necessarily. I don’t want you to feel forced.”   
  


He kissed her, just letting the moment sink into his mind. If he went to Massachusetts, he’d get less of this… but maybe, just maybe, he’d get more of himself. He cupped her cheeks, lips going apart from hers for just a second. He just held her for a second, taking in the moment. Her brown eyes stared into his, the caramel and amber specks jumping out at him as he brushed a strand of hair outside of her eyes. Her lips were full, her nose endearing to him in some way. It was by some cosmic force that they were there in this moment. 

She was so perfect to him, her voice. Her style. Her sense of.. Everything. She was a person who wanted to live and better the lives of other people and educate other people. She always saw art as a way to do that, creating little moments in her sketchbook of people in crisis, eventually painting protest signs and rallying their class for vegan options in the cafeteria and Deaf Awareness Week. He remembered when she helped him run for GSA President, supporting him to the end, and watching him give an acceptance speech that spoke more to everyone than it should have. 

He remembered when he first met her, her aloofness almost steering him away, but he is now glad it didn’t, as it brought him to the most gorgeous girl that he had ever known. 

He remembers it all. And that’s why it’ll be so hard to miss her.

“Peter. What are you thinking about?”   
  


“Just how perfect you are.”

The room stayed silent for a while, just soaking in each other’s presence. MJ had a lot to love about Peter. While he wasn’t as outspoken as her in terms of activism, he was willing to learn. There were a lot of things he didn’t know, but she tried to teach him everything she could. That was nothing, though. Spider-Man was huge, but it wasn’t what she loved him for. Sure, saving New York every day is a huge responsibility, but she knows Peter. His heart is too kind to try to take care of himself, but that’s still not what she loved Peter for. She loved that she could talk to him, but also about the times they didn’t talk. She loved how they had a secret language between the two of them, like the world stops spinning when it’s just them. She loved his heart shaped birthmark he hides, his freckles that look like constellations, his curly hair which he insists on gelling back, despite it not looking as good to her. She loves him for his laugh, his smile, the way he gives her random flowers on a date. That is why she loves him, his heart, his entire.. everything. 

“Peter, what time is it?”   
  
He checked his phone. “Nine. Do you want me to swing you to your parent’s house?”

“I can get there just fine, and you know that.”   
  
“But I just want to walk you home.”   
  
Her heart melted then and there. “Fine.”    
  
He grabbed her an oversized jacket, passing it towards her. She put it on, leaning down to kiss his cheek.    
  
“Thank you.” She then said, Peter opening the door for her. He then grabbed her hand, walking into the city at night.” 

New York at night has a different vibe, according to Peter and MJ. The streets are still bustling, but you can just feel the energy of a city changing its skin for the night. They couldn’t quite describe it, but it changed. It almost left Peter a little on edge, as the night tended to be more sinister, but also more alarming.

“Peter, you’re fine. I’ve got you.”

“I know it’s just… something.. Doesn’t feel right. It’s not like the normal tingle I don’t… I don’t know how to describe it but it’s like.. A looming fear.”

“Maybe you’re still anxi--”   
  


Peter froze, his body twitching, almost vibrating. “N-No…” He stopped. “There’s more than one of me. I can smell it. Something's off.”    
  
“What?”

“There’s another Spider-person. At least that’s what I got from this whole thing. And they’re somewhere in New York. Somewhere around here, specifically.” 

“And you’re going off of your Spider-sense.”   
  


“Wouldn’t you if you had some natural feature to tell you what you need to know?”    
  


“True. I guess I can text my aunt that I’m staying over at a friend’s house tomorrow. Which I technically am.”   
  
“We don’t even know who they are.”    
  


“Doesn’t matter. If it’s important to you, you know Me and Ned will help.”   
  
“Golden trio strikes again.” 

“Astute as always, Potter.”   
  


“I don’t need your sass, Granger. Just tell Weasley to meet at my house at I guess, ten? We’ll be able to have coffee.”   
  


“Ok.” She kissed his cheek, texting Ned, and curled against him as he took her home, opening the door for him, and leaving her with a kiss on the lips and a blush on her face.

  
Sleeping that night was hard. Peter could feel the independent spider in him telling him that this was his battlefield, he battled for it, and this was his domain. But he also felt the human part of him, the compassion of just wanting to help the person out. He remembers when he became Spider-Man, and the tragic events that followed.    
  
Uncle Ben became more of who he wanted to be than he admitted. And he knew he would want Peter to see the best in others, and to try to help. Wasn’t that what he tried to do, despite knowing it would kill him?   
  


He blinked back tears. He couldn’t become dormant again, complacent in what happens before him. But he also needed to live a life. Uncle Ben managed to fall in love, get married, and go to college, so why couldn’t he? 

And why did he feel like he couldn’t have any sense of control in his own life?

He awoke to a letter hitting his face, smiling subconsciously at the scent. He was beginning to look forward to these, despite knowing the sad reality they encompassed. Another failing mission right before his eyes.

He opened the letter, his eyes betraying him, as he breathed out shaky tears, and his entire body just gave out. Trying to pretend to be strong and failing was exhausting him. He wished he could get that moment of holding himself up in Tony’s reassuring embrace. But it’s passed. He can’t get that now.

Now he has to suffer with the feeling of reality on his shoulders, the world on his shoulders.

_ Hey Kid,  _

_ If you’re seeing this and getting it, it means I’m still dead. I’m joking. I don’t expect you to get how to solve world dimension theory and chaos theory at this very moment. But that’s not the theme of this letter. _

_ No, what’s really grinding my gears is that you’re about to go to college! And that I’m not here for it. I wish I could give you the biggest hug. And the biggest graduation party you’ve ever fucking seen. I just wish I could tell you how proud I am of you.  _

_ Now that the sappy shit’s out of the.. Let’s be real, that’s never going out of the way. But I do want to impart some wisdom onto you.  _

_ College and post-high school is when you start figuring out what you want from the world instead of what the world wants from you. Sometimes you’re going to make a selfish decision. You’re going to choose your own happiness, but I think as an Avenger, you should have the right. You do a lot for the world. You should at least get something back. _

_ I’m not going to tell you where to go to college because I don’t know where you applied. But I still want you to make a better decision on your own without me. I want you to go where you genuinely think you will grow. Not for what New York wants, Aunt May wants, or what MJ wants. What do you want? _ _   
  
_

_ What are you passionate about, Peter? _

_ And where do you think you’ll go? _

_ Without those answers, or the instinct to act on those answers, you can never truly get what you want. A superhero is allowed to have something outside of public service, and I know your heart is too good to see through that, but I’m telling you, we even do selfish things. I built murder robots because I wanted to retire. It’s not ideal, but it’s what happens sometimes. We try our luck, but we don’t succeed. But don’t let the deterrents stop you. You’re a literal superhero. You deserve this.  _ _   
  
_

_ Pepper’s better at the whole advice thing, so I genuinely think that you should call her, but this isn’t her allotted time to write. So, I’ll catch you on the flip side. _

_ T.S.  _

_ P.S. The answer is closer than you think. Look in front of you. Look at the letter, but also look at the people around you. Plus, I may have left some schematics with Pepper. You can ask her for them. _

_ Love you more than 3000 _

_ Do what you want with your life. Please. Let one of us end up happy.  _

He looked at the letter that Tony left him, almost skeptically. How was it that he knew that he knew exactly how he was feeling? And why was he so sure that Peter could do it? 

He then stopped.  _ Of course that’s how he would know _ , Peter grumbling internally, feeling almost helpless to the world. It seemed like his life was way too crazy to be able to actually focus on one thing at a time. While he loved having the ability to multitask, it was rough sometimes. His head seemed scrambled 24/7 and he could look away and the world would be in jeopardy. 

He wrote down a note: 

_ 177A Bleecker Street. Get Pepper and Rhodey. Call Bruce. _

He took a breath. The sooner he could, he needed to gain back control of his life.

He got dressed, picking out a button-up and a sweater on top of it, along with some cute jeans and his classic shoes.    
  
He didn’t bother to gel his hair back, grabbing EDITH for a second, but then putting it down. He didn’t feel like that power and that responsibility should be his. EDITH, while it seemed fun at the moment, like a kid getting a new toy, he then realized the consequences of what really existed. EDITH was invasive. It hacked into other people’s things like it was nothing, and while the gesture of a parting gift and leaving him with so much to be.    
  
He had to get back control. He put the glasses in a drawer, locking EDITH using the new security measures he had coded onto the device.

He walked into the living room of his apartment, casually waiting for MJ to emerge with a disgruntled Ned, only for them to already be in the room, talking with Aunt May.    
  


“Peter!” Ned yelled, practically drowning his best friend in a hug as he did so. “Are you ok? MJ told me about yesterday and what a ride it was.” He rubbed his back, letting him breathe and be enveloped in each other’s presence. It was times like this Peter always felt grateful to have Ned as a best friend, the positive reassurances, the hugs, the cuddling, despite them dating different people, Ned continued to be the most affectionate and caring friend he could ask for. He knew he got into MIT, the acceptance letter hung on his locker, and it did leave him more and more torn. He wanted to be there with everyone, but…. He really couldn’t, could he?

Ned let him go, practically dragging him to the couch. Peter sat between Ned and MJ, his girlfriend draping her arm around him, and Ned rolling his eyes at them being disgustingly adorable. “You know, I’m here, too.” 

“We know.” MJ chuckled, looking at her close friend. “We love you, too, Ned.”

“Yeah. But you guys get to be all couple-y..”   
  


Peter laughed. “You’ll find someone Ned.” 

“Says you. You guys are literally the longest lasting couple at Midtown.”

“I delivered on my promise from last night, though.” MJ’s voice breaking up the play-fight Ned and Peter were doing. 

Peter quirked an eyebrow, while Ned almost died on the spot. MJ spit out her drink she had in her other hand. “I meant about bringing coffee and investigating this Spider-Kid.”

“Couldn’t you just use EDITH?” Ned asked, his eyes looking a little skeptical. 

“Yeah… but… I don’t really want to use EDITH. It just doesn’t feel like something your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man would do. Which I still am most days.” Peter said, almost in a way of which he was trying to convince himself. Who was he? And what was he holding onto? 

“Right. Plus using EDITH would scare them off. It’s gotta be scary enough as it is.” MJ argued, having talked to Peter about the ethics of using EDITH in the first place, and making him swear to not have that much power in his hands again. “Not everything needs to be solved with a thing that has more intelligence than the CIA and gets personal information without permission.” 

Peter winced. EDITH hadn’t been his proudest moment. He used it so irresponsibly, and he didn’t even think about what was a consequence of his actions. He just wished he could warn the next one of his mistakes. 

“It’s ok. It’s really not, ethically speaking, but Peter, you know better now.” MJ said, running her fingers through his hair, a sad smile painted on her face. “I still love you.” She whispered, causing a blush. 

“Stop being good to me. It’s not fair.” He croaked out, low enough for her to know exactly what he meant, and for Ned to not really overhear. 

Ned cleared his throat, his eyes looking at a watch, then immediately just looked back to his friends. “How do you think we should find him, then?” 

“... Uh…” MJ trailed off, looking to Peter for advice. His eyes widened, his hand shaking. She took a breath.    


“Peter, you said the spidey sense only occurs when you know it’s something, right? You said you smelled something, too. What was it?” MJ then interrupted him, forcing him to snap out of his focus. 

“.... It was a weird smell. I’ve never smelled it before, but it seemed kind of.. Like.. new? Like it smelled like me, post bite. But it smelled different. That’s the only way I can describe it.” He said, looking around.

“Interesting. Ned, you writing this down?” 

Ned looked up from his phone, conveniently pulled up on the Notes app. “Where were you when you smelled it, though?”

“We were at MJ’s aunt’s house. I was walking her home..” A pause filled the room, MJ’s eyes piercing toward Peter’s. 

“Where’s the house near?” Ned then asks again, typing furiously. 

“It’s right by Brooklyn, right along Highland Avenue. It’s not that far of a walk.”

“I never really go into Brooklyn unless there’s a crime there..” Peter mumbles. He stopped, looking over at Ned. “But how would there be another spider? I thought they were dead.” He stopped. 

“Wait.. How’d you get bitten anyway?” 

“MJ, you remember that field trip we took to that facility with all of those experiments?” Ned led her into it gently.    
  


“Yeah, Oscorp, right?” 

“Yeah, but it’s different. They were doing a presentation using spiders mutated from the waste that was in the Battle of New York..” Peter started, growing more and more nervous. “The spider had taken on a lot of different properties that made it an anomaly they wanted to study. And then it bit me, but it might’ve bitten someone else. I don’t know. But I remember them killing it. They swatted it.”    
  


“Wait, Peter. You said it was mutated from the New York stuff, right?”

“Yeah. Of course it was. Nothing like that had happened before in the world and they were doing life studies on it.”

“And what’s the number rule of science?”   
  


“Always have more than one focus group during an experiment….” Peter trailed off, a eureka moment in his eyes. “Of course they made more spiders.” 

“But they’re not in Brooklyn.”    
  
“Spider could’ve easily made it to Brooklyn, Ned. The average spider travels hundreds of miles.”    
  
“I thought they just made webs.”   
  


“They do. But they can also fly, and end up in the middle of the ocean. It’s kinda cool.” 

“Can you fly?” MJ asked, almost afraid to ask. It was hard to say how much of him was really human or really a spider, to be honest.

“I wish.” Peter laughed. “But seriously, we need a strategy to find this guy. And knowing me, he’s probably scared out of his mind, and needs someone to help him.” 

His phone vibrated, almost ominously. 

**I know I said I owed you a favor, but I might need one of yours. Miles has gone missing. - Jefferson (I got your number from my old NYPD call records before it disbanded. You really should’ve encrypted that before, but since your identity has been revealed, it doesn’t matter.) **

Peter looked towards his friends. “I’ve got a feeling about this one.” He paused, looking back down at his phone, but then back at Ned. “I’m about to do something crazy and I need my best friend to back me up. You trust me?” 

“I’ll always be your Guy in the Chair.”   
  


“Babe, don’t let me do anything too stupid. Stay with Ned. It’s gotta be me that does this.”    
  


“Ok, but be careful.” 

“I’m finding a kid who has my powers, how hard can it be?” He said, grabbing his suit and his mask. 

\------------------

Apparently it was very, very, very, very hard to find a kid with your powers. Not to mention, the kid in question is being chased by a guy in a suit similar to the Vulture’s. 

So he had a guy to fight and a kid to save. God, being a superhero was exhausting. 

He flinged a web between two buildings, hoping it would expand between each other to set a trap for the man behind him.    
  


“.... Come on! Kid! Please just… Ugh! I’m not gonna do anything! I’m Spider-Man!” He yelled, just wanting this all to be over. He didn’t get paid enough for this. Granted, he did Spider-Man for good will, but surely, he deserved something for having to deal with all of this mess.    


He heard a trampling of footsteps, running further. “A wild goose chase through a neighborhood that is kind of incredibly confusing, even with a GPS. I’ve been here. I think I know my way around. But then I get turned around by the Metro Station.” He sighed, swinging steadily toward the sound of footsteps. He heard a ripping noise behind him.  _ Fuck.  _ He swore internally, just wanting this week to be over. 

The kid was fast, he knew that. But he also had another guy on his tail. He closed his eyes.  _ Concentrate. Concentrate.  _ He kept calling to himself, with no avail. He lept, his feet going off of the ground, the feeling of weightlessness almost suspending his mind, only for a menacing noise to carry on behind him. It sounded like a siren. A warning… but why was he chasing after that kid? He was just a kid for god’s sake.

Peter stopped internally.  _ I was.. I was just a kid.  _ He sighed. He had to keep going. He couldn’t let Miles be robbed of his, too. 

The noise quickened behind him, almost like an elephant shriek. He shot a web in front of him, jumping higher into the sky, gripping onto a top of a skyscraper nearby. His breath hastened, feeling an almost existential dread. 

“PROWLER!” He heard from ahead. Miles, of course. It rang like a siren in the air, alerting, but also gut-wrenching. “Don’t do this!” He then yelled again, ringing out more and more in the air.

Peter’s heart broke. He was taken back to the robber… and Uncle Ben. He could feel the scene playing in his head, the last of his childhood innocence seeping in that moment. He knew who Prowler was. He knew exactly who he was... 

His heart broke in his chest. Miles didn’t get to have a good Uncle Ben. Instead, he got someone trying to kill him. And he couldn’t figure out why. 

He kept lookout amongst the city from the skyscraper, time seeming achingly fast, but achingly slow. He looked closer, seeing lightning but also a figure phasing in and out. He had his mark. He then looked toward the Prowler, his figure tall, menacing, but n0t without a few weaknesses. He had really upgraded since he last saw him. 

  1. His suit was electric. 
  2. He had electricity shooting out of his gauntlets.
  3. He had wings, and he could probably be taken down easily.

But Miles didn’t know that. But he did. He swung back into the action, swinging behind the Prowler. He played with his web shooters, switching toward the epoxy-destabilizers, aiming toward the metal, but not before using his other web shooter to make a regular web for Prowler to fall into. He wasn’t a complete monster unlike the  _ Daily Bugle  _ liked to portray him as. 

With Prowler taken out temporarily, he had one mission: get the kid somewhere safe.    
  


He paid attention to the electricity and phasing. He tried to move tactfully, hiding in the shadows, knowing a kid was afraid.

\----

Eventually the footsteps grew less and less frantic, turning into murmurs of regret. He then descended off of the roof he was listening from, carefully, but with his classic Spidey flair. He then took off his mask. “Miles, right?” 

The figure nodded, looking away from him. “You’re Spider-Man...” He whispered incredulously to himself. “Why would you be looking for me?”

“Got an anonymous tip from your dad. Let’s just say my Spidey Sense kicked in and then I ended up here. And I’m glad I did. You could’ve been seriously hurt.” His tingling had stabilized, and he just knew this kid was the one he was looking for.    
  


“... Did you ever feel weird when you first got your powers?” Miles finally spoke up. “Did you feel like life as you knew it was going to change, and that nothing was going to be the same again?”

“Yeah. I got them before I had something horrible happen to me. My Uncle Ben died.. And I knew then.. That nothing was going to be the same ever again. My Aunt May and I only had each other.” He then huddled closer to the younger Spiderling. “But that’s not going to be you.”   
  


“You wouldn’t just leave me like that? Isn’t that how you learned?”    
  


“It’s how I learned, but it isn’t right. Everyone needs someone. For me, Uncle Ben helped a lot. But I was also mentored by Tony Stark himself.” 

“I remember that. When you guys would be in the paper after some bad guy in Central Park. Because you tended to be in Midtown with him. It made me realize that Spider-Man didn’t just exist in Queens. He was New York’s.” 

“Yeah. I love New York. I love everyone in New York. Even the criminals who live in it. Even the grumpy guy who cusses me out at the hot dog stand. This place is my home. It has the people I love here.. But.. This isn’t about me and New York, ok? I see what you’re doing.” 

“Hey. It’s just... It’s part of my story.” 

“Yeah. But the thing is.. You’re not alone. What you’re going through. I’ve already done it before. You’re like me, Kid. You’re not going to be without me as long as I am here. Even if I’m away at college or whatever.. I’ll be there. Because no spider should have to go through it alone.” 

Miles nodded. “But what if I don’t want to be Spider-Man? I’m still a kid. I just wanted to be a kid.”

Peter rubbed his chin. “From my experience, I don’t think we can go back. You can feel it inside of you that despite this being an awful idea.. There’s no real way to be normal anymore. The most we can do is pretend. But inside, you know, I know we’ll always have something other about us that we can do nothing about. Absolutely nothing, as much as we want to change things. So the best we can do? The absolute best that we can do is try to use that difference, the thing that makes us a target, the thing that will put you through heaven and hell to do something good. Something that helps people. Because there will be more and more people like us who will feel lost and not know what to do. So the least we can do is be there, and help protect the normal people. We’re their line of defense after all.” 

Miles took in the speech for a while. “How would this work?”    
  


“Well. I might leave New York for college, but I’ll still be close enough to swing by or visit whenever I can or when something major happens. But... if you want me to, and this is only if you absolutely want me to. I can train you. Not just let you figure it out, but also give you a few pointers.” 

“What kind of pointers are we talking about here?”

“How to make your own gear for starters. That shit’s expensive and it breaks. So you gotta learn the ins and outs of repair as much as you may hate it. Also, how to swing, how to train the potential that you have. You also are going to be different than I am. But that’s ok. We’ll work through it.”    
  


Miles nodded again. “This’ll give me some cool locations to do my art, too.” 

“Art? You do art? That’s perfect. We always need artistic and creative superheroes. But there will be different things that other people will hate. You’re going to be hated by the law. The police will hate you for what you did to their jobs, and the villains will hate you for being you. But the people who hate you regularly, hate you because of the otherness about you. It’s going to be a lot. And normally I sugarcoat it, but you’re going to experience this. So I’d rather have you prepared before this destroys everything.” 

“Ok.” Miles said. “I’ll do it. But I reserve the right to resign if this becomes too much.” 

“That’s ok too.” 

“Hey, Spider-Man. Can you take me home?”

“It’s Peter, and of course. Just call me Peter.”   
\---

The walk to Jefferson and his wife Rio’s place didn’t take long, but Miles pointed out every single place he had tagged on the way. He didn’t hesitate to admit to him that he was talented, especially for him to only be in middle school. “That looks just like Tony. He’d love that.” He commented, as Miles pointed out a mural he did once Iron Man had died. 

He knocked on the door, Jefferson wrapping his son up in a hug, with a disgruntled “Dad!” ringing out from his mouth. 

“I don’t want to hear it, Mister-I-Ran-Away. Now why did you run away? I had to get Spider-Man to rescue you.” 

Miles gulped, looking toward Peter. 

“He was in the middle of a chase with a criminal. He had apparently been a witness. It’s not his fault, sir.” 

The stately man nodded, looking at Peter almost calculatingly, trying to figure out if it was true or not.    
  


Rio Morales in her nursing uniform then heard the noise, going back to hug her boy, whispering cries of “mijo!” and “mijito!” in his ears, a large smile going on both of their faces. 

“I uh.. I have an appointment with my family to get to right about now. But give Miles my number. I think we’ll need to talk more in the future.” He then looked toward Rio. “He’s a good kid.”   


“Thank you.” She muttered out, in the middle of tending to Miles’s cries of “I’m hungry! Tengo hambre!” 

He then flung across New York, a newfound peace settling into his shoulders, and then back into his apartment, of where he then enthused MJ and Ned’s conversations, but then put on a movie for the three of them to watch.

\--- 

** _A Few Months Later _**

Peter was at the airport, carrying his luggage in the gate Happy had reserved for the Quinjet. He had insisted on taking him to MIT for his first time. He still remembered the joy he had once he had alerted them of his commitment, noting that this is really the first time that he was doing something for himself. 

But he wasn’t alone anymore. New York would be his home, but it was the most protected city in the world, aside from Wakanda. Wakanda was on a whole other level. He’d be missed, as he wouldn’t be as regular, but he’d be fine.    
  


MJ stood at the gate, somehow sneaking in. “I’m going to miss you...” She whispered, but stepped forward to reveal Miles, sad to see his mentor going. 

“You know I’m going to be back every weekend, right?” He smiled, touching MJ’s hair. “When did you dye your hair red?”

“Oh.. I wanted to try something new for NYU.. But you got it wrong. Brown isn’t my natural hair color. It’s red.’   
  


“Then why did you dye it red?”   
  


“I didn’t think I looked good with it. But it also gave me too much attention. I’m already tall, Peter.”    
  


“Yeah. But I love that about you.” He said, tiptoeing to steal a quick kiss, much to Miles’s dismay.    
  


“Yeah yeah.” Peter rolled his eyes, but then turned to Miles. “I’m gonna miss you. But this is your first chance to really prove yourself. But just stick to the ground for now. Then work your way up.”

Miles rolled his eyes. “When do I follow the rules, old man?” 

“Kid, you’re going to be the death of me.” 

Happy interjected with “Welcome to my life.” earning a laugh from everyone. 

Pepper appeared, with Aunt May. “Morgan couldn’t come. She’s at ballet lessons, but... I believe I have a letter for you.” She then took out an envelope for him, but then turned around and gave another one to Miles, and one to MJ. 

“I’ll read it on the flight. Thanks, Pepper.”   
  


He then leapt into Aunt May’s arms, a newly adorned hand with diamonds combed through his hair. “You’re so tiny. You’re like a baby still.” 

“Stop being so mean, mi zia.” 

“I’m not. You’re just sensitive, mio bambino.” 

Peter smiled. “God. You haven’t called me that in a while.”   
  


“Wasn’t any different with you and zia. I haven’t heard that in a while, too.” 

“I’m going to miss you the most.”   
  


“I heard that!” MJ interjected, jokingly.   
  


“Second-most.” He then amended. 

Happy then grabbed Peter’s luggage, loading it into the jet. “You coming or what?”   
  


“Yeah. I am.”    
  


So they hopped on the flight, a chorus of “goodbyes” waving after them, and then Peter opened the next letter. 

_ Dear Peter,  _

_ .. Fuck that’s weird. _

_ _

_ Pete. If you’re getting this. Congrats. You’re me. You’ve got a vigilante to look afterward. Fatherhood is exactly like this you know. It’s why I consider you my child. I had to look after your dumbass 24/7.  _ _   
  
_

_ I’m joking. I’m incredibly proud of you. This letter doesn’t have the best advice. And it’s short and sweet, but.. I am so proud of you. _

_ I went to college when I was a teen, but I became a parent way later in life. And I think that helped me turn out for the better. Kids are a lot to deal with. They really are in the long-run. There’s just a lot to deal with. Making sure they’re happy, healthy, safe, and provided for. But they’re worth it, biological or not. _

_ Even if it’s something as simple as helping them out with something small, you’re going to grow closer and closer to them. But.. Don’t panic. _

_ Take things as they go. One day at a time. Morgan makes me learn more in a day about people than I have in a lifetime. Children are.. Surprisingly easier to understand than most adults. Become better for them, anyway.  _ _   
  
_

_ Life may be hard but we can always be better. I wanted to be enough for you. I hope I was enough for you. I left you some things, money, some stock, because I wanted you to be taken care of. You were going to be my heir. But.. you know, you could still be.  _

_ I’ll leave it on a cryptic note. _

_ _

_ Tony.  _

_ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for this literally taking forever, but with the unexpected pandemic, AP exams, the time leading up to that, school being chaotic, etc, but it took a lot. But I used the time to try to produce a somewhat quality chapter. I had a feeling I wanted to introduce Miles, and I wanted to focus on Peter and his personal flaws when it came to his future, but also how selflessness can hold you back. As well as wanting to make a choice in life, but feeling inundated with a lot of what is going on, because.. it's kind of a mood. I also kind of took a chapter break because of my mental health, and I have no idea how I finished this quickly, but I did. 
> 
> I wanted Peter to be older, and mature more, as time goes by he realizes what he has to do. I don't know. That sounds stupid, but I think that he needs to be in a more mature state of mind before he tries to get Tony back, which we all know he wants, but will he get it is the question. Anyway, I'm kind of proud of this. It took me forever. It's also not my best, but with everything going on, kind of a masterpiece.
> 
> I'll catch you on the flip side, wherever that is. Because I have college applications and SATs and other things to do, since I want to go to film school.   
Thanks for the kudos, comments, whatever in advance,   
Kay ♡


	5. A/N:

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So,,,, I hate to say this but..

I hate to say this but I'm not as passionate about writing about this as I once was. I was always more a 616/ making my own universe fan, and while this has been fun, I want to work on some other things! I might come back to this now, but for right now, for my own sake since I'm applying to schools, I need to put this on a temporary hold and not feel obligated to have to write.  
Sorry for this,   
I hope you understand ♡

**Author's Note:**

> Operation I.R.O.N.D.A.D:
> 
> Ideal  
Resolution  
Opportunity  
Neutralizing  
Directions  
Across  
Dimensions


End file.
